Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Aster
by Fire Burning
Summary: The story presented in Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, presented with some plot twists.  Follow the adventures of a human-turned Pokémon and her secretive, stuttering partner. Ignore the summary.  The story inside is much better written.
1. Chapter 0, Part 1: Storytelling

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**I DO NOT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM OWN POKéMON, NOR DO I CLAIM TO BE ASSOCIATED IN ANY WAY TO THE PEOPLE WHO CREATED IT. ALL ORIGINAL CHARACTERS WERE CREATED BY (AND THEREFORE ARE) MINE. PLEASE DON'T BORROW/TAKE/USE/ETC. THESE CHARACTERS WITHOUT PERMISSION. THIS DISCLAIMER APPLIES TO ANY AND ALL CHAPTERS POSTED IN THIS FANFICTION.**

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"A-…are…you okay?"

_It hurts just to move…._

"Let's hu…hurry…okay?"

_I…I can't feel my feet anymore…._

"… …C-can you…imagine…wha-…what the g-guild…will sssay?"

"Yeah…when y—when we get back…they'll be glad."

"Yeah! I—aaah! T-t-t-tremors!"

…_Tremors? I can't…I can't feel it…!_

"…I-it's o-…o-….It's over. Are things…still…settling d-down?"

_If I keep going…maybe I can put it off…._

"…It's…sunset…right now….Like the…day we met. Rrr…remember?"

"Yeah…I remember. Our Beach Cave trip?"

"That…started…everything."

"Like joining the guild. Which led to that mission at Drenched Bluff. Chatot hated us for that."

"…We met…Azu and his…brother…around then…too."

"Don't forget Drowzee."

"I…wish I…could!"

_Is that…?_

…_Yes. This is it._

_I can't move anymore._

_My role is ending._

_But my dearest friend always liked stories, listening to them and telling them, so I can imagine this is one she will share. And for the people who will hear it, this is the way it will begin: two friends remembering the times they shared together._

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**A/N:**

**Hi everyone! If you're reading this, I'm sure you know what you're getting yourself into, so I'm not going to point out the obvious fact that you are reading a fanfiction based on the plot of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky-never mind, I just did, didn't I? Anyway, now that that's out there, note that I've taken some creative liberties with the plot. No really major ones (such as Guildmaster Wigglytuff becoming fifty feet tall and taking over the world and, OMG, forget about the original focus, let's go stop him!), but expect some twists and turns to what you're familiar with.**

**Before I go on with my traditional opening-chapter rant, here's my warning to you all: I'm a sloooow writer. I do my best, but I get stuck on the dungeon-traversing chapters and it takes me FOR-EV-ER to finish them. In addition to that, I'm in college and one of only two people in my household who drive, which translates to "I have no life." Because of that, I have a whole arsenal of chapters written up already. They are my "in-reserve" chapters so that I can have some extra time to work on other chapters. I feel bad for withholding all this, but if I posted them all now there'd be a lot of pressure for me to get the next up in a timely fashion and I do not write well under pressure, especially if it were a dungeon chapter I was writing. Please be patient and I will be forever grateful.**

**Okay, part 2 of the opening chapter-rant: the way I label my chapters might seem weird to you. Basically, I label them according to the "chapters" in PMD2. Of course, being me, my chapters are too long to fit in one submission unless I wanted to bombard you with thirty pages' worth of writing in one go. Yeah...figured that's not a good idea. So instead, they're divided into sub-chapters: 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, etc. This and the next chapter are Chapter 0 because, well, it's not quite a prologue but it's not part of Chapter 1 either. Just wanted to inform you of that.**

**Last but not least, for this fanfiction, I decided that I was going to write a random fact about the characters/the writing of this story, mostly because of my chapter system; there's one fact per chapter, so it helps me keep track of how many I've written. I can't say all of them will be interesting, because I haven't thought of many yet, but I enjoy reading random facts (even the boring ones) and I figure there must be some other random person out there who does also.**

**Soooo, Random Fact #1: **The heroes featured in this story are based on my PMD: Darkness game. What a shocker, right? However, I briefly considered making the main character of this story a Chamander, based on my team in the first PMD game. It seemed to suit the main character's inner personality more. But then I realized that how this character acts on the outside is also important, which led to me sticking with my original choice of the PMD2 team.

**Okay, so, onwards to Chapter 0.2!**


	2. Chapter 0, Part 2: Light

"...Are you okay?"

He didn't hear me, or maybe I didn't hear him. Or maybe he was too surprised, considering this was the first thing I said in days that actually made sense to him. Either way, bigger problems at hand. I saw a sudden flash of light even through my tightly shut eyelids. I was holding on to something—or, rather, someone—tightly, as if my very life depended on it. I...I guess it could. I wondered if it mattered.

Wherever we were—and I wasn't opening my eyes to find out—it was windy and the wind really hurt. No, scratch that. "Really hurts" is an understatement. It's more like being ripped apart into tiny pieces with an invisible knife. I couldn't hear my partner over the shrieking winds, but I knew he was worried about me, because he tugged a little on my hand. I don't see why he should be, because we've already established that nothing life-threatening works on me, but he is and I should focus on something else.

We heard a sound not unlike an earthquake rattling the ground. The winds, screaming louder, pulled with all their strength at our bodies. I felt our grips on each other slipping bit by bit. The wind let loose a high-pitched wail of joy and blew all the harder. I felt like needles were tearing into my body.

My partner let out a low noise of pain and my heart wrenched. I never liked it when my friend was hurting, and considering recent events—no, I'm not going to go into that. "...I'm sorry," I said as loudly as I could muster the energy for. "I'm...really sorry. I...um...Don't let go..." Our hands slipped a little more, and he scrambled to get a tighter hold on me. We managed to regain a bit of our lost grip. I couldn't open my eyes to check our progress, for fear of having my eyes injured by these winds, worse than even the deadliest hurricane. The wind was literally cutting; I felt blood running from scratches all over my body. I had a feeling my friend wasn't in the greatest condition either.

Suddenly, I felt the worst pain of all in my chest, comparable to a dozen daggers being shoved all at once into my heart. I let out of muffled scream, the tears that I felt leaking from my eyes flying off my face in the gale. I was gasping, unable to get enough oxygen into my lungs. At that second, I knew I had to release my grip on my friend. He was the only one of us built to endure this kind of thing; if I kept hanging on, I could drag him down too. In more ways than one.

"Don't...be mad," I choked out, gasping for breath after every other word. "I can't...breathe...lots of pain. B-bad kind. S-safer...to...let—let go." He took this as the order it was, and just as I expected, I felt my partner hold on tighter. Unsurprisingly. I winced as the pain pulsated and came back stronger. "I-if...if I...c-can...I'll f-f-find you." The grip did not change. "S...survive..." Finally, after the longest moment of my life, his tight hold relaxed ever so slightly. "R-ready?" I whispered with the last of my air, and without a second's hesitation, without giving it a three-second countdown...I let go.

_"NO!"_

It's an odd feeling to wake up and find yourself floating unsupported in midair. It is further confusing when you realize that there is nothing in this place with you. Absolutely nothing—no life, no solid objects, heck, maybe not even you, for all you're aware. It sounds scary, the Land of Nothing, but it's not really. It's more like...ultimate freedom. It's like you know you can do anything, absolutely anything, and nothing can stop you. And, defying the rules you'd expect the Land of Nothing to abide by, I could see, taste, touch, smell...but, of course, there wasn't anything there except for a small glowing light piercing through the dark in the far-off distance.

_Don't worry. You're safe here._

A voice spoke up from seemingly nowhere and yet everywhere at once. It was a calm and happy voice. I looked around frantically, surprised but not scared, and spotted a new, black silhouette in the midst of the distant light.

_It's okay! I'm the one who brought you here. I'm not going to eat you or anything._

_Who are you?_ I shouted, and immediately gasped. No sound came from my mouth, but clear as day I could hear my words echo throughout...wherever I am. _How did I do that? Where am I?_

_I'm sorry. Your original form didn't make it to the place you wish to go._

_What are you talking about? That didn't answer my question!_ I exclaimed indignantly. _Where am I?_

_Only you can answer that. Perhaps you've been here before. Perhaps you haven't. Do you really know for sure?_

I was quiet for a moment. _...You're really confusing me._

The voice laughed, though not meanly at all. _Well, do you remember what you ought to be doing right now? Where you're going?_

_Yes! But why do you know all of that, and why are you asking me so many questions?_ I demanded.

_You're asking me just as many questions! _the voice pointed out.

_Well, I'm the one floating in a weird place where nothing exists!_ I retorted. _I think I'm entitled to a break here._

_You know, you might want to be a little nicer to your savior. I could get in a lot of trouble for helping you, but...here I am!_

The comment about assistance and saviors went in one ear and right out the other. _Okay, so humor me—where am I?_

The voice laughed. Clearly, whoever it was loved laughing. _I'm not going to have an argument with you over something so simple! I have better things to do. Like figuring out who you should become._

I would be frowning if I could. _I'm happy the way I am!_

_Yeah, I figured, but that's not exactly an option at the moment. I'd recommend that you be agreeable when I question you. I don't want to be responsible for sending you off in a form that doesn't agree with your nature._

_Well...okay. Alright then_, I agree curiously.

_So...let's start with this. What do you want to be when you grow up?_

I hesitated. _Well...if you mean a career of sorts, I don't think that's an option for me...More pressing issues, you know? I honestly haven't thought about that in a really long time._

The voice made a contemplative humming sound. _You haven't thought about it? Not at all?_

_Nope. I'd rather enjoy life while I can. Or, at least...to the _extent_ that I can._

The voice sighed. _Okay, take a wild guess. In a perfect world, what might you have enjoyed doing when you were older?_

_Well...I always did like kids. Maybe I'd be a teacher._

_There's a start!_ the voice said with genuine excitement. _Why a teacher?_

_I don't know. I like little kids. I like helping people. I like teaching people things. So it just kind of struck me as something I could do. I just want to help people, really._

_Okay, let's move on. What do you do when you meet someone? Do you go up to new people or wait for someone to notice you?_

I paused. _I, um, well...I try. I'm...socially awkward. I'm bad at having conversations with people because they all tend to die off because I don't know how to respond to something or follow up to it. But I smile a lot and I guess people like me for it._

_How about your friends? What do you like to do with them? Are you close?_

_Well, yeah...I only have a couple, though. But I'm happy with that. I don't like having a lot of people around me. I'm more of a lone wolf and I like my solitude. I'm not a huggy kind of person either, and I don't like to be touched that much. So...what we do, right? That's the next part? We just kind of do whatever strikes our fancy. I dunno. We play pretend a lot._

_Pretend, huh?_

_Mm-hm. We pretend we're warriors or something like that, with sword fighting. I get a tiny bit bossy, though. I get very into my games and my mind figures out all these strategies we could follow, and then when I try to implement those strategies my thoughts don't go through the internal filtering system so they just kind of come out like orders. I also, um...forget who's playing who and address the characters instead. It gets on people's nerves when I start saying, "character-name, you're being an idiot; go do this instead!"_

The voice giggled again._ Blame it on your defective "internal filtering system!"_

_Generally I do just that._

_Do you always enjoy everything you do with your friends? Anything you don't like?_

_Well, I don't like sports and drama games and other stuff where I have to put myself out there. I get really uncomfortable. I feel bad, but I get so uncomfortable I just can't do it. I like it when they're all happy, though, so if they want to play those kinds of things I just sit out and let them have fun. I shouldn't ruin their fun. I have fun watching other people have fun._

_Are you always this open with people?_

_Oh, god, no. I tend to put up a front so it doesn't seem like I care about things so much. I get hurt very easily, even over things that don't concern me and are happening to other people. I make jokes a lot to deflect the attention from me and convince everyone I'm fine. I'm rarely ever not fine anyway. I also try to get people not to take me seriously. It's easy to overlook people you don't take seriously. Actually, now that I think about it, why am I not able to deflect these questions?_

_You can't here. It's against the rules._

_What rules?_

There was a long pause before the mysterious voice began talking again. _Sooooo...moving on from friends, how about family? Do you get along with them, or do you argue a lot?_

_My family members _are_ those friends, so we're not really changing topics. And everyone argues with their family. My family tends to be on the argumentative side, but I stay out of it. I don't like arguing. I want everyone to get along and be happy. If I don't agree with someone on a major decision, though, I'll say something, and even if I get mad at one of them I try not to argue, but I have a pretty bad temper so it doesn't always work. I always apologize after, though. I love my family._

_You ramble a lot, don't you? Use long, run-on sentences?_

I laughed nervously. _Um...yeah. Sorry. Internal filtering system again._

_What kinds of things do you like to do?_

_Oh, you know...play games. I like to walk around outside and talk to all the Pokémon I see. I secretly like playing hide-and-seek...Don't tell anyone I told you that. Oh, and I love looking around for unusual sights that most people completely miss. Stuff that's beautiful, but nobody ever looks at closely enough to see. There's a lot of that in today's world._

_Interesting...What's something you hate?_

_I hate that the world is as it is_, I said slowly. As I thought about how everything was now, the anger that had driven me to this was quickly renewed. _It's...I can't even describe how much I hate it. That's the only thing I really hate in life, but it drives me to change whatever I can._

_I agree with you there_, the voice said quietly. _Now...how do you interact with others? Do you get along? Are you reluctant to challenge others' opinions or can you stand up for yourself?_

I paused, thinking of how best to answer. _I try my best to get along. I get along with almost anybody, but if we're too different...I just can't. It makes me mad when I can't relate to someone. Especially if we can't agree on something—I get really nervous doing it, but I'm not afraid to challenge anybody if I think they're wrong. Even if I do it in the most passive way possible._

_Are you right a lot of the time?_

_I'm not the right person to ask. I mean, it's my opinion of my own opinions, basically. Anyone would be inclined to say their own opinions are usually correct. Ask someone else who has an objective view._

_...Well, that's an unusual response. So...how do you normally judge a situation? Say you see a stranger in trouble. Would you jump right in or would you consider it carefully beforehand? Would you even care, considering it's someone you don't know?_

_Of course I would care!_ I exclaimed. I wouldn't leave that person in trouble. _I feel compelled to help anybody at all. I'm a little on the reckless side, though, so I head right into situations without even thinking about any of the outcomes or my own safety._

The voice was utterly silent for a bit, which kind of creeped me out. _That's it!_ The voice suddenly let out a declaration of joy. If I had any control over my body, I would have jumped out of my skin. _I've figured it out!_ the voice went on happily. _It's almost a perfect match for you...oh, yes, that'll do nicely!_

_What? What have you figured out?_ I asked frantically. _What happened?_

The voice sounded surprised when it next spoke up. _Oh. Right. I almost forgot! I'll explain...just...just let me check something..._ All of a sudden, I felt something poking at me. It was like a poker, searing with heat and layered with ice, soft and sharp, painless and painful, all at once. It was probing an area that seemed to be inside my chest.

_Hey! What are you doing? Stop that!_ I complained, trying to shove away the invisible presence.

The poking sensation stopped. _Calm down. I'm only psychically examining your aura._

_What?_

_I need to see the color of your aura—or spirit, soul, heart, whatever you personally call it. The color pretty much sums up what kind of person you are, for anyone who can see it. If I'm right, your spirit should mesh together perfectly with the form I have in mind for you...So just relax. I'll be finished in a second. I guess I've got to warn you that it might hurt for just a second at the end. It could hurt a lot, or not at all, and you might be tired out afterwards, but I assure you that you're not in any real danger. So...are you ready?_

Significantly more worried than I had been originally, now that pain had been brought into the picture, I reluctantly muttered, _Yeah..._ The prodding sensation returned, this time more deeply than before. It continued for at least thirty seconds more. At the very end, without any warning, I felt a pain even worse than the prodding—this was fiery, unrestrained, sharp pain that pulsated and made me sure I was about to die. _Stop it!_

The pain receded as quickly as it had come. _I'm sorry_, the voice said. _You were tense, so it hurt more than it normally would have, but I have to admit—I wasn't expecting such a strong presence from you. Your aura is definitely of the fiery type._

_Fiery?_ I asked curiously.

_Oh, yes! Your aura is brilliantly red. Almost like flames. The voice sounded awestruck. I definitely wasn't expecting it! I was thinking you were more of a happy sort of pink, or maybe blue, calm and easygoing...Clearly there's much more to you than meets the eye._

...Apparently I am a Transformer*. _Um...thank you?_ I asked, confused. _Is that good?_

_Oh, most definitely. I got enough information from your deepest self that I could accurately describe you to anyone who asked. So, let me introduce you to...yourself._ The voice paused, evidently for dramatic effect, and then began speaking.

_You have a hidden nature. You act according to what you think is best, but your actions and even your words don't always portray the kind of person you are inside. It takes time for others to discover who exactly you are, but that is only because you do not think to offer information; you don't think to look beyond the questions. You have a lot of hope and lightheartedness that hasn't been broken by hard times. You may seem quiet or reserved, but you just don't have much to say. You're an introvert._

_Then there are the things that may not be so apparent to many people. You see the best in everything and everyone, even those that no one would look twice at. The beauty of the world is not lost on you. You appreciate the good in life and righteously despise those that bring ruin to it. You mourn the loss that everyone suffers because of it. And you work to change it for the better. You are never in any doubt that the choices you make are the best you could. Even though you yourself admit to acting without thinking, moved only by instinct and your deepest beliefs, you trust your own judgment. You respect the thoughts of others; you'll listen to their opinions, but it does little to change how you behave, because your deepest beliefs, which influence your actions, can never be swayed. You possess such a deep conviction and self-determination that it utterly astounds anyone who gets to see it openly displayed._

_What motivates you is your love for others. You tend to hide it, but you care deeply for everyone you come across. Even those whom you have never met have earned your loyalty, just because of their status as a living being with emotions as real as your own. This prevents you from participating in any form of violence, be it physical violence or just arguing. In addition, you have remarkable inner power. Unlike many who have such an unshakable passion, you don't use your strength of heart for your own benefit but for the sake of others. It is your complete dedication that makes you a formidable force. Your purpose means everything to you, fueling the flame and making you stronger._

_But even a person such as you has their faults. You fail to see the not so endearing qualities of those you meet, and your willingness to believe the best of everyone can easily be taken advantage of in various ways. This leaves you very vulnerable to betrayal. You may find that the trust you so freely give can bring about your own downfall. You tend to be stubborn or even bossy, and easily fall into the leadership role, making it difficult for anyone to deter you from doing what you want. You tend to refuse help of any kind unless you're completely desperate; you can't stand feeling helpless or weak. Your heart is in complete control of your actions. You follow its whims unquestioningly, never stopping to think that it might be wrong. You will fall many times because of this, but you must find the strength to pick yourself up and carry on._

_Now, a hopeful, passionate person like you...In your new form, a personality is reflected through your appearance. Your strength of heart and your sarcasm will set you apart from others of your kind, but on the surface you'll seem about as normal as the rest._

...Okay, information overload. Mental processors now shutting down. _Uh...what?_

_Never mind, you'll understand once you're out in the real world. I'm keeping it a surprise! Now... for the sake of your partner's and your safety, I'm going to have to keep you apart. I'm not all that fantastic at teleporting others, so I might be a little off, but I'm going to be sending you to a beach. If you ever meet someone there, she's well worth your trust. I'd actually let her help you, if I were you. Every bit of help could make a difference. I wish you all the best on your journey! Don't mention me to anyone...I don't want to think about what would happen if I were to be discovered._

My fingertips and toes began to tingle; the dark space was growing oddly fuzzy, and the light was growing larger. _H-hey! What's happening?_ I asked. My voice was suddenly much quieter, as if I were hearing it from a distance.

_I'm sending you off. Your new form is complete. I think you might enjoy it._

The light pulsed, flashed, and suddenly I felt heavier, much heavier, and the sense of immense freedom vanished. I struggled in vain against the new senses, not liking them at all, when I suddenly heard the sound of waves...

***I don't own Transformers, either. Hope you enjoyed the reference.**

**Random Fact #2:** I had a major memory lapse the first time I wrote this out and forgot who was really responsible for turning the main character into a Pokémon (not surprising since I never got through the post-game story myself). When I remembered, I still went with the Pokémon I had decided was responsible: Mew!


	3. Chapter 1, Part 1: Storm at Sea

_Plunk!_

"I'm…alive?" I gasped with wonder. _I was so sure I was going to get torn apart in that thing!_ It felt like a lot of time had passed, but…I didn't remember anything after letting go…huh. I guess it felt longer than it really was. _Where am I now? _Slowly, I opened my clenched eyes. Big mistake. Apparently, I had been deposited right into the middle of the ocean, right in the midst of a thunderstorm, and the ocean was particularly violent. Instantly I latched onto the nearest secure object, a pointed boulder. I felt the sea heaving underneath me and sensed my body lifting up. "Aaah!" I squeaked out in terror. The sea dropped me and I was submerged yet again by a particularly large wave, and wound up with a lot of water up my nose. "Eww, eww, eww," I whined, spitting it out. Since whining would do next to nothing except for making me feel better, I also called out "Help!" for good measure—and it really would be nice to get some, assuming someone, anyone, could hear me.

"What am I going to do?" I whispered to myself. When in danger of drowning, hold a conversation with yourself. Perfectly normal. "I'm stranded in the middle of the ocean…obviously…and I'm sure not swimming to shore…wherever the shore is. This water is disgusting," I added unhappily. I had often gone swimming in the ocean before, but there seemed to be more sand and debris in this ocean than actual water.

A flash of lightning, accompanied by a resounding _crack_, lit up the pitch-black surroundings. I flinched, then squealed as a wave threw me against the stone I had grabbed onto. I coughed out of mouthful of water, gagging from the revoltingly salty taste. "Oh, no, what am I gonna do?" I asked myself again. "I've gotta get out of here—oww!"

A piece of driftwood had slammed into one of my arms, and by reflex I released the stone with that hand. The water pulled at said arm hungrily, keeping it firmly underwater and unable to move. I struggled to get a firmer grip on the rock, but I could feel the ocean winning this battle. "Aaah! H-help me!" No one answered me.

"Oh, no….I don't want to die—especially not like this!" I gasped, now only holding on by the tips of my fingers of one hand. _Is this it?_ I thought. _Is this the end for me? Death by drowning?_ It was a horrible, horrible way to die…and gross.

The ocean sucked at my body again and this time, it was successful. I was yanked from my only hope of surviving and was dragged further out to sea. I screamed, receiving in return a gallon of water dumped into my lungs and stomach. I flailed my limbs helplessly. Why on earth did I feel so awkward in my own body, ever since I had found myself here? I knew I could swim, so why wasn't it working? "Someone help me!" I screamed, my throat throbbing with pain from the effort it took.

No one answered. The ocean swallowed me up, and I was tumbling underwater, forced to do gymnastics I could never accomplish on land. I couldn't see through the cloudy water so I shut my eyes. I was released and I shot to the surface. I gasped in a breath—I got both air and water into my lungs as the ocean, like a pet playing with its toy, pulled me back under again. Debris was swirling wildly through the water. I struggled but couldn't escape to the surface.

Slowly, everything went dark….

"W…wh…wha-... ...-ppened?" A voice burst into being, interrupting the peaceful nothingness that had enveloped me. "A-are…uh, are y-you…okay?" I felt someone shaking me, first hesitantly, then urgently when I didn't respond. "Oh, no…p-please wake up! I don't k-know how t…to do…C…P…R!"

Huh? CPR? Who needed CPR? I nearly bolted upright. "Nngh…oww…." Ugh. Why did my head hurt so much? It was making me feel really unbalanced. I fell back onto the sand and tried again—wait, _sand_? This time I practically jumped to my feet out of shock, but the sudden movement made me fall back into a sitting position, keeping my hands on the ground in front of me for support.

My mysterious savior made some sort of exclamation of joy and relief. I assume this was due to my awakening and because she did not, in fact, have to perform CPR. I wasn't paying that much attention at the moment. I shifted one of my legs out from under me. I grimaced—I felt really grimy and sticky, for reasons I didn't know. How long had I been laying in this sand—on this beach—in…wait…where was I, anyway? I didn't recognize this place. And…why are there _bubbles_ all over the place? I looked around wildly in a desperate attempt to notice something, anything, I recognized, but tilted my head to the side in confusion. Hold on…why did I just tilt my head for no apparent reason?

"—and you…weren't m—mmmoving at all. I d-didn't even know if you…were…b-breathing, except you…t-t-t…twitched right before I…c-came over…ssss-so you had to be alive, but it w-would've been…hhhhorrible if you hadn't wo—wokhh…—_wo_-_ken_ up; I d-don't know…w-what I…would have d-d-done!"

Oh yeah. I almost forgot about my mysterious living alarm clock. I looked up. The very relieved speaker was a Chikorita. A Chikorita who apparently had a pretty bad stutter, which made me sad. It must not be fun to be stuck with something like that. This Chiko—wait…something seemed a little off about this, but I couldn't pick out exactly what for the life of me.

Said Chikorita quieted as soon as she noticed I was both observing her and aware of her ramblings, blushing with embarrassment and distracting me from figuring out what was so weird aobut this situation. "D-do you…rrrrremember w-what happened?" she asked in a shy voice.

"How I got here?" I rephrased, speaking more for my own benefit than hers. "Uh…um…I don't know." My tone rose with bewilderment. "Last I remember, I was…." My face scrunched up with concentration, but then I felt it light up with fear. "Actually…I don't know where I was last either." I paused. "I don't even know where _here _is!"

Rita opened and closed her mouth as if the words were stuck in her throat. I thought this was a little strange, but I didn't comment on it. That wouldn't be nice in any way, whether it had something to do with her stutter or not. "…M…mmmaybe you…h-hit your head or sss…something?" she finally forced out. "Or, um…mmmaybe you…just mmi—migrated here…or y-you're v-visiting…and th-that's w-why you don't k-know this place," the Chikorita suggested.

"I…I don't know…." I bit my lip, worried. Why couldn't I remember? Both of us sat quietly for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"I…I'm…Rrrrrita!" the Chikorita offered as an icebreaker, looking almost petrified. I wonder what was making her so nervous.

"Uh-huh..." I didn't think to offer my own name in reply.

There was another, more awkward silence for a moment, but it was soon broken when Rita decided to give up on hoping for my social graces to awaken from their hibernation. "…Sssso, ah…wh…who are y-you? D-d-do you…rrrrremember any r—rrrrelatives' names or a-anything?"

"I…I'm sorry, but I just can't remember. I could probably tell you where I'm from if I found my backpack, though. My map is in there." I glanced around. "Have you seen one lying around anywhere?"

Rita looked confused. "B-back…pack? Wh—what's a p-pa-…"—she paused, struggling with the word—"pa-…p-…a…w-what's thhhat?"

_Is she joking or does she really not know?_ "Uh, well, it's a bag you wear on your back, over your shoulders."

"I've n-never sssseen one." Rita looked completely enthralled by the idea of a backpack. She was probably picturing one at the moment. "You rrrreally mmmust-t-t…be f-from p-pretty fa-…far away. I k-knew I h-hadn't ssseen any Ssss-…any…any Ssskitties…living in t-t-t…town…before."

"Skitties? What do they have to do with anything?" Okay, seriously, what was going on here?

Rita looked taken aback. Stuttering more frequently than before, her face flushing bright red, I could barely make out what she was trying to say. Something along the lines of "sorry" and…"you _something-something_ look _something_ Skitty."

"Me? A Skitty?" I blinked, not bothering to hide my surprise. "No, I'm human. Tall and walk on two legs and stuff like that."

"…What?" If Rita had looked stunned just a moment ago, that was nothing compared to her expression now. I was honestly astounded that she, let alone anyone else, could be that shocked and not collapse of a heart attack then and there. She was utterly silent for just about a full minute and a half. I was getting a bit freaked out, wondering what was the matter and what I did to cause it, before she spoke again, her eyes welling with tears. This time she spoke in an whisper, which seemed to completely suspend her stutter. I tilted my head towards her to hear her better; she had a quiet voice to begin with. "…_Is this supposed to be a joke? It's really not funny. Not at all. I know everyone in the village thinks I'm just a scardy-Meowth and a crybaby and that it's weird that I stutter, but I can't help that! This is…just…mean…._"

"Huh?" I replied. Definitely a grand example of my eloquence. I was bewildered as to what I had done to upset her. "What are you talking about? I'm not kidding. I'm sorry, but I really have no idea what you're talking about."

Rita frowned, beginning to speak normally again. "We-…wellll…you're d-d-d-d-definitely n-not…hhhhuman. Y-y-you llllook like a Ssssskitty, a-…and…you sssound…lllike a Ssssskitty," Rita replied; she still sounded upset, and she was still teary-eyed, but not quite as much. I must have sounded sincere enough to make her reconsider. "Ssssssp-…ssspin around…." I complied, still unsteady on my feet; in fact, I wasn't even able to get around without using my hands as well. My legs alone wouldn't support me, and my right arm was a little sore. I guess I must have been through a rough patch, however I had gotten here. "…You definitely lllllook-k…lllike a Ssss-…Sskitty…t-t-t-tail and all." Her expression showed that she was unsure of what to make of me, but it was an improvement to the previous look of pain that had washed over her.

"What?" I asked, a little concerned. Well, actually, a lot concerned. "No…no, I'm human. I'm definitely human!" I repeated frantically, more for my own benefit than for Rita's. "I just know it!"

Rita, by now, was probably more than a little concerned for my mental health, just judging by her blank expression. I don't think she knew quite what to do with me. "W-well…llllook for…yourself…." She gestured towards the ocean. I have to give her credit; it was a much better reaction than I would have had. If I were watching someone suffering from amnesia desperately insisting that she was human when she clearly looked like a Pokémon, I would have been running for the hills. Assuming there _were_ hills in this place…wherever it was.

I clumsily stepped up to the water, searching desperately for a glimpse of my unruly shoulder-length brown hair, waiting to see my ocean blue eyes looking back at me, eyes that would prove I was still…whoever I was…darn, that was a scary thought…who am I, anyway? A human named…?

Well, I did find the eyes. Granted, permanently narrowed eyes, but distinguishably blue. You just had to be about eye-level to notice. However, I didn't find the hair. Or a human, for that matter. I saw reflected in the ocean water a frightened-looking Skitty, her fur untidy and caked with sand, trembling slightly. She was pretty small…_oh_. No _wonder_ something had felt off about talking to a Chikorita. For one thing, said Chikorita was about a foot taller than this Skitty was, which is impossible for any human except _maybe_ a newborn. I wouldn't know because I've never seen a newborn. For another, I was _talking_ to her, and not just the cliché trainer-understands-his/her-Pokémon thing, either; we'd had a full-blown conversation.

Darn…this was not good. My reflection was a Skitty, which meant that _I_ was a Skitty, and the only thing I recognized about her was her ocean blue eyes.

* * *

_**A/N:**_

**There we are! Chapter 1 is officially underway! From here on out I'm going to post a chapter about once a week, so be on the lookout about 5-7 days from now.**

**To anyone who reads this story so soon after its creation, I'd like to thank you. Have an imaginary plushie of the human-turned-Skitty (who doesn't remember her name; aren't I cruel?). Or an imaginary cookie. Whichever you prefer.**

**As for the Random Fact of the chapter, Random Fact #3 is as follows: **Rita's stuttering is in fact here to stay. It's a permanent speech thing she's always had and always will have because the time period for outgrowing it is long past. In fact, Rita's stuttering is pretty severe; she actually has all three major "symptoms" (repetition, prolongations, and blocks; not going waste space here, so feel free to look them up if you need clarification). And in case you were wondering exactly why I have this wealth of knowledge, no, I don't stutter; no, I don't know anyone who does, but I used to have a lisp so I can kind-of-but-not-quite relate; yes, I am doing my best to make Rita's speech patterns realistic, and if they aren't I apologize and ask you to please correct me; and yes, I did do a heck of a lot of research on Rita's speech impediment, hours and hours of it. I don't remember exactly why I decided to have Rita stutter, but it's very important to me to make it as realistic as I can.


	4. Chapter 1, Part 2: Bullies

I stumbled away from the water, trying to take this in. _I'm a Skitty!_ My mind was reeling. _I can't walk on two legs because I have four now, and no hands. I have no thumbs! Okay, can't think about that now. Um…I have a tail. Crap, I have a _tail_! Not going to think about it—not going to think about it—um…I was lying so close to the shore for who knows how long, so I probably got soaked at high tide or something and had dried off as the water receded, so that's why I have sand all over me. Um…oh, gosh…I'm a Skitty…and as far as I know, there is no possible way on Earth that I can turn back into a human!_

Rita started talking next to me, which startled me out of my thoughts. I was close to being startled out of my skin, too. "You…were sssserious…w-…w-…weren't you?" She frowned thoughtfully. "You _were _acting…k-kind of odd f-…for a Skitty." Her face fell guiltily. "I b-…bel-…believe you now. I'm sss-…sorry I accu-…accused you of p-…p-playing t-tricks on me. I…uh…sssome P-…Pokémon like to…pick on mmme. Mmmmostly those…m-my age." She peered closely at me. "And you llllook…a-about as old as…I-I am."

I shrugged stiffly, my head whirling. "…I forgive you. I wouldn't have believed me either."

Rita hesitated, then extended a foreleg hesitantly. "…Um….F-friends?"

"…Okay, sure." I gave her a smile that probably seemed more like a grimace, considering my revelation. Not really sure if this was the Pokémon form of a handshake or not, I put out a paw as well, and as soon as it touched her own we withdrew our respective appendages. Er, well, _she_ did, and I just kind of followed her lead as quickly as I could so that it looked like I knew what I was doing and _didn't_ look like I was some kind of uncivilized barbarian.

"…Sssso I g-guess…we shhhould f-figure out…what you rrrremember." Rita said, glancing up at my shyly. She paused before frowning. "…But…I d-d-don't know…hhhhhow h-humans…live…ssssince none of them…lllllive arrround here….I d-don't know…w-…wh-…what…to ask…."

This tidbit of information surprised me. "No humans live here? None at all?"

Rita shook her head. "N-…no…I thhhink…they llllive f-…further out to…ssssea. S-some…water…Pokémon…who lllive around here hhh-…have ssseen them f-far away from hhhere…."

"Well, that explains a lot….But darn…I could have _sworn_ I've seen this place before now!" I complained. "I could never have been here before if there are no humans."

Rita shrugged with a small smile. "…Mmmmaybe you'll…rrrrremember…later. …Is there…anything elllssse you know?"

I thought long and hard about it but still couldn't come up with many answers. "…Well…I think I lived in a big town….I'm pretty sure I had two parents, but I don't remember what they looked like…assuming that's correct and I really _did_ have parents that I lived with…." The world _mysteriously_ started flooding with water and going blurry. I looked down at my feet—paws—whatever. "And…and there were….I think there's someone else I'm forgetting. Actually, there are probably a _lot_ of people and _plenty_ more things I'm forgetting." I bared my teeth, frustrated, and forced my expression to _not_ twist up because I was so upset. "I don't even remember my own _name_! I can survive—I don't have to relearn to walk, or talk, or eat, or drink, or anything like that—but everything _important_ is gone!" I shook my head discreetly in hopes of shaking off the few tears rolling down my face.

I'm not obvious about it when I cry, I know that much. I don't make a sound, and the extent of my crying is a couple, literally a couple, of tears, and that's it. End of story, see you next time. So I was surprised when Rita caught on. Rita looked unsure of what to do to console me—which wouldn't have worked anyway, because I strongly suggest that people don't talk to me when I'm like this (read: yell at the people trying to help me to leave me alone)—but eventually settled for sitting down next to me and waiting until I had calmed down. I felt horrible; this must be pretty awkward for her, but she was nice enough about it. I at least didn't feel like she expected me to just get over it and move on within five seconds.

After a minute, I looked up again. Rita looked surprised. That didn't really surprise me, compared to the fact that anyone else in my position would probably be freaking out much worse than I did. I mean, I'm trapped in a Pokémon's body, but I know I'm human. I'm also in the process of absorbing the fact that there is little to no chance of becoming human again without A: the memory of who I was before, B: the memories of my life that could hint to that, and C: memories of how I got in this situation in the first place. Seriously, that's tough news to take. I am pretty darn adaptive, if I do say so myself. (Humor my more conceited comments; keeping my spirits up in any way possible is good, even if I do come off as arrogant.)

"So…what am I going to call myself?" I asked her quietly. "Any ideas?"

"Well…I was…thhhinking Kai…i-if you…lllllike it." Rita smiled bashfully. "I've hhhhheard of a…couple Skitties…with that name."

"Kai." I tried saying it out loud as a test run. I nodded, smiling for the first time since I found myself here. "Kai. Yeah, I like it."

Rita visibly perked up at my approval. "Rrrreally? You do…? I…I'm glad!"

For a moment, it seemed that all was well again (aside from the obvious), but of course, my nonexistent luck decided that now was the perfect time for trouble. Suddenly, Rita was propelled towards me by a forceful shove. She shrieked in alarm as she shot forwards, tumbling head over heels, and collided with me. I was forced a few steps backwards, falling flat on my rear end. Rita quickly scrambled to her feet with frantic apologies.

I was playing less attention to her than I was to the culprits of the rude behavior. A Zubat and a Koffing flew and hovered (respectively) side by side, chuckling not so inconspicuously at Rita; they seemed older than her, and I suppose myself, too. They paid little to no attention to me, however, so I chose to let Rita handle it herself. Besides, I wasn't really sure how to handle it in the first place. She could take care of herself, right?

"Oh, my, I _do_ beg your pardon," the Koffing snickered with obvious insincerity.

Rita shook sand off her back while sending a pitiful, wavering glance at the two Pokémon. It was very clear that she was scared out of her wits by the two thugs. "…Why d-d-did you…? Thhhhhat w-…wasn't…very nice…," she finished in a near-whisper, avoiding eye contact with them.

The Zubat let out a screeching laugh. "You don't get it? You've got five seconds to guess." He waited only one and tossed his head in her direction. "Time's up. The obvious answer is that we wanted to mess with you! _Duh!_" Koffing laughed mockingly. When Rita made no move to reply, only looked away as if ashamed of herself, Zubat scoffed, "Hah! You can't even defend yourself, can you? It's 'cause you know you deserve it; isn't that right? What a clever little _stuttering __loser_ you are, figuring that out all by yourself," he cooed mockingly.

Rita silently met their gazes, looking stricken and her eyes glistening with unshed tears. I was so close to jumping in to defend her, but she shot me a desperate look telling me very clearly that she didn't want me to bother with it.

Zubat nodded towards something lying on the ground. It looked like some sort of stone. "That thing's yours, right?" he asked with false concern, moving towards it. "My mistake. Must've knocked it right out of your bag." Now that I thought about it, Rita did have a small pouch looped over one shoulder, across her stomach, and under her other foreleg; it must have fallen out of it. "Here, let me help you out with that!"

Rita let out a horrified gasp, stepping forwards. She struggled to speak again. "…N-…ah…n-…no! …_You can't have that_!" she whispered pleadingly.

"No can do. Sorry!" Zubat's cheerful reply told me very clearly that he was _not _sorry. "I think we'll be '_borrowing_' this for a while!"

"No, p-p-please, just g-give it back to m-me!" Rita pleaded desperately, taking another step closer. I wasn't sure why a rock was so important, but if it meant that much to her, I wasn't going to listen to Rita's silent pleading for me not to stop them.

"Don't _beg_ for it, Rita!" I exclaimed, moving to stand beside her. "That just what bullies like them are looking for. That's what they _want_ you to do." I growled in what I hoped was, in some shape or form, a menacing way. Not really sure what it was that made me produce that kind of a noise, or what made me want to in the first place, but sure, let's go along with it.

Zubat spun around, clutching the stone in his fangs before dropping it into a bag that Koffing wore like some sort of belt around its circular body. He grinned wickedly, apparently just having paid proper attention to me. "Well, well, who have we here?"

"Looks like the big chicken made a little kitten friend," Koffing observed. "How cute. Looks like she needs a bath, though, don't you, kitty?"

"I'm not _cute_!" I protested indignantly, and then adding in a hiss, "I'm _deadly…._"

"…Precious," Koffing commented drily, skepticism written all over his face, before turning his attention to Rita. She hadn't moved an inch since they had taken her prized possession. "You're not even going to _try_ to get it back? And here we thought you were growing a spine." To Zubat, he added loudly, "This is even easier than we expected."

"I…I…mmh…." Rita trailed off, glancing between the two thugs for a moment before looking down in defeat.

Koffing laughed heartily, but unkindly. "Wow, I didn't expect that you'd be such a big _coward_! Guess the rumors aren't just rumors after all, huh, pushover?" He allowed himself a few chuckles at Rita's expense, then completely ignored her and turned to Zubat. "All right, come on. Let's get out of here. We got what we wanted."

"With pleasure," Zubat agreed, looking at Rita and me haughtily. "See ya around, loser…kittycat…," he addressed each of us before he and Koffing headed off quickly towards a relatively nearby set of caves.

I glanced over at Rita incredulously. "You're going to just let them take it? I thought it was important to you!"

"…What…_should _I do?" she asked in a fearful voice, glancing up at me. "Thhhhat's my…only…t-t-treasure," she sighed. I turned towards her but kept an eye on the retreating figures of the thieves. "It mmmmmeans…everything in the…world…to me."

"Then _go get it_," I interrupted in a tone that implied that she was being ridiculous, which she was.

She fell silent and looked closely at me. I don't know what she was searching for or what she found that made such a difference, but she suddenly shook herself violently and said, "You're rrrright…." I nodded, and she paused, glancing at the figures of Koffing and Zubat entering the caves, before looking back at me hopefully. "…Um…would you…hhhhhelp me…g-get it back? I…I'm no…g-g-good on my own…."

"Of course," I replied with a smile, deciding not to call attention to the self-depreciatory comment. I liked to help people. I was itching to give chase. At the moment there was nothing I would like more than to catch them, like prey beneath my paws, and I will play with them before—oh, darn. Weird thoughts about "catching prey" is a bad sign.

"…Rrrr…really?" Given that we are supposed to be friends, Rita seemed remarkably surprised that I am willing to help her out. "Tha-…thanks, Kai!"

You know, the more I heard it, the more I was really starting to like my name. It had a nice ring to it.

* * *

_**A/N:**_

**There we are—nameless-human-turned-Pokémon has a name! Or at least an alias, since she doesn't remember her name. It always struck me as odd that the main character of PMD2 remembers his/her name (or even that he/she was human) when he/she doesn't remember _anything _else. What, did the Real Evildoer Pokémon take care _not _to erase that? Still, it would really kind of destroy the plot if the main character _didn't _know he/she was human, so I can forgive that.**

**Anyway, this chapter's dedicated to my cat, Baby Hugs, who died around 1:00 AM on Sunday morning. Even though he was named after a female Care Bear (I was five and didn't know any better) and the name Hugs did **_NOT _**suit him (he was a big, whiny grump most of the time), he was a good cat and a good friend, even, and I miss him. So I thought the Kai-Rita friendship scene we had going on here was as good as any to dedicate to him.**

**Random Fact #4: **Kai and Rita both went through numerous name changes. They started out (respectively) as Namiko and Emmi, then Nami and Emmy, and finally ended up as what they are now when I decided on a naming trend for the characters in this story. All of Kai's names, actually, have similar meanings (basically, something having to do with the ocean). Rita's names were just...a name.


	5. Chapter 1, Part 3: The Chase

We dashed up to the entrance to the cave I had seen Zubat and Koffing enter—or, rather, Rita dashed, and I kept up as best as I could on my considerably unsteady and considerably _short_ legs. Curse my instinct to walk on two feet. This was just _weird_, and _not _in a good way!

The entrance to the cave was smaller than I expected. "Will we fit through?" I asked Rita anxiously.

She shrugged helplessly. "I nnnn-…never…t-tried…." She avoided my gaze, clearly ashamed of herself.

Time to change the subject. "You know, I bet if that Koffing can get in here, considering his diameter, we'll have no trouble at all," I joked. Rita chuckled, grateful for the excuse not to continue our conversation, and we both squeezed in through the entrance. I felt this weird sensation like I was underwater when we entered, but once we were inside all the way it went away and I figured it was just a change in temperature or something. I glanced around, taking in the sandy floor, blue-gray rock walls, and dim lighting, with a few small passageways traveling out of the cavern we had entered into. It would probably be difficult to maneuver around in here. Good thing I wasn't claustrophobic. "Let's go this way," I suggested, figuring out how to flick a particular ear to indicate which direction I wanted to travel in and feeling quite pleased with myself. Rita nodded in agreement and we soon set off.

"So where are we, exactly?" I asked after a rather uneventful minute of traveling. I was leading the way through our second tunnel; the first had let out into another chamber with only a few berries inside. Rita had wanted to take some with us but was dismayed to realize that her little bag had too many big holes to hold them.

"Thhhis p-place is c-…c-called…B-Beach Cave," Rita stated as way of explanation as she followed me into a second narrow passageway.

"That's a creative name," I observed, laughing.

"Yeah," Rita agreed with a giggle. "Y-you'd thhhink they'd…g-…give it a b-better name…ssssince it's a…mmmmystery…d-dungeon."

I let out some sort of mewing noise that indicated my confusion. I'm not entirely sure what sort of feline sound it was but I decided I was better off not questioning all of the Skitty quirks I was displaying unless I wanted a particularly violent migraine. "What's a mystery dungeon?"

Rita glanced up at me, equally confused, but after a moment I swear I actually saw the little light bulb go on inside her head. "…Ohh. Y-you w-…wou-…wouldn't knnnow." The expectant gaze I threw over my shoulder prompted her to continue. "I-it's a p-place…llllike this…c-c-cave, that…chhhanges c-constantly."

"What do you mean? Like, the inside?"

Rita nodded. "E-…everything."

"The walls and the floor and the stuff inside? _That _everything?"

Rita nodded again.

"Are you serious?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Y-yeah. This c-cave…u-used to be just…one area, b-…but now thhhere's…thhhree or f-four floors." She squirmed under my gaze. "It's hhhappened o-other places…t-too. It ssssstarted…before I was…hhhhatched. Nnnnobody knows w-…why."

I shrugged. "Good thing we're not the ones who have to figure out why, then!" I declared. Rita smiled. We left the small tunnel behind as we entered into a wide cave. On the opposite side of where we stood, I spotted something strange. "Look at that, over there." I nodded towards the strange depression in the sandy floor. "What's that?"

Rita looked as confused by the sight of it as I felt. "…A…hhhhhole in the f-…floor?" We carefully crept over to it. If it really was a hole, we didn't want our weight to cause another to open up under us. I crouched down beside it, peering down. It was, as suspected, a small canyon in the floor. How a hole could appear in the sand without sucking all of it down below was beyond me, but maybe it was part of this whole "mystery dungeon" thing. Looking down it, I found it wasn't a far drop at all, only a few feet.

"Do you think they went this way?" I suggested. Then I grumbled under my breath, "It would be really helpful if they could leave footprints behind, instead of flying and floating…."

Apparently not hearing me, Rita nervously spoke over my unhappy comment, "I d-d-don't…knnnow…O-ow!" Rita suddenly doubled over, wincing. I turned my head sharply and spotted a Corsola bent over, digging his coral-like branches into Rita's stomach. With a furious squeal, he tossed her into the air. Rita landed hard with the wind knocked out of her.

"Hey!" I snapped, turning towards the attacking Pokémon as Rita struggled back to her feet. "What's your problem? She didn't do anything to you!" Corsola made no attempt to reply, aside from a low, guttural growl. He shook himself, displaying his stiff appendages in what was clearly a threat. "Well, what am I supposed to do now? I can't attack you; I have no idea how!" I realized aloud, a little nervous upon realizing this. I had been all ready and set to attack Zubat and Koffing, but now that I actually had to I realized battling wasn't going to be as easy as I had hoped.

"…Battling c-comes…nnnnaturally," Rita stated, her voice and her body shaking slightly with nerves as she moved into an offensive position. "It's in-…insti-…instinctive."

"But you were _born_ a Pokémon! Of course it's instinctive!" I exclaimed. Yeah…I was kind of panicking. "I wasn't; I have _human_ instincts! I barely know how to _walk_ like this!"

Corsola suddenly lunged forwards, aiming for me in particular. I was hit full on, shrieking with alarm. His rock-hard, branching arms scratched my sides as he tossed me away. I jumped back up, unsure of what to do next. I watched Rita back up a few steps and charge at Corsola, turning slightly to ram him with her shoulder. Corsola fell over and struggled back to his feet, though he rocked unsteadily for a moment and let out a whimper of pain. I decided to try the same move and carefully imitated Rita's actions. The result was a clumsy nudge that seemed to annoy Corsola more than it actually did anything useful.

"Mmmmmaybe you…you shhhould t-t-t-try put-…putting mmmore…f-force in it?" Rita hesitantly suggested, grunting as Corsola scratched her foreleg with his horns.

"Can't we just jump down the hole instead?" I asked, eager to leave the battle behind. My attempt at attacking was completely embarrassing. I would be so glad to leave the fight behind.

Rita spared me an incredulous stare. "Nn-…no!"

Squaring my shoulders, I sighed huffily and ran up to Corsola. "Would you just go away?" I whined irritably on my way there. Without even thinking about what I was doing, I let out a fierce growl.

_Did I just use a Growl attack? Huh…I guess I do have some Skitty instincts. …You know, I _have_ been doing weird things since I got here, haven't I? _That_ was stupid of me not to realize…._

This whole inner monologue here was really more a kind of instantaneous "duh" moment. Corsola looked taken aback by the Growl and froze for a moment. Rita and I both took advantage of the lull. We both used what I now realized was a Tackle attack, and the combined force overwhelmed Corsola. He tipped onto his side. He finally wriggled into a standing position, and sulked off with a token grumble. Rita instructed me not to take my eyes off him or else he might come back. As he slowly creeped away, I felt a sudden lurch of energy well up within my chest. Less than a second later, I felt a weird tingling in my head. "Whoa!" I yelped, startled.

"Um…I g-guess you…fffelt yourself g-gaining…experience," Rita giggled. "Llllike a…b-ball of e-energy?"

"Well, yeah, there is that, but why is the inside of my head tingling?" I asked worriedly. _Will not try to look at forehead. Will not try to look at forehead. Will not succumb to such childish things. _"Is that supposed to happen?"

"You…mmmust have learned a n-…nnew move," Rita said. "It'll ssss-…stop sssoon, and y-…you'll f-feel lllike you rrrr-…rrremembered sssomething…."

"Oh…yeah, I got it," I announced as I…well, really I just kind of got that feeling you get when you remember something important you forgot. It was weird.

"Wh-…wha-…what mmmmove is it?" Rita asked curiously.

"Attract," I replied. "…The fact that I just kind of know that frightens me."

"It w-worries…everyone the f-…first time…."

"So, what was up with the Corsola?" I asked, flattening my ears threateningly when said Corsola, now far off, looked back at us. "He didn't even say a word to us."

Rita paused. "I…P-Pokémon who—who lllllive in these p-…places are a-acting…rrrrreally w-…weird. It's, um, llllike…th-they're in ssssome kind of t-t-t-trance—they all just…ssseem to atta—attack a-anyone they…s-see, even e-each…other." A momentary look of guilt, and something else I couldn't identify, crossed Rita's face. "…I feel ssssorry f-…for him."

I frowned. "That _is_ sad. Now I feel kinda guilty." I hesitated, letting out a heavy sigh. "But I guess if they attack us, there's not much else we can do…." Rita nodded, looking resigned. "Well, let's see where this hole leads, shall we?"

Rita paled at the thought of the drop. She glanced up at me with one very clear and very desperate message on her face: _PLEASE go first._

Once we had both leapt down through the gap in the floor, which was actually much easier than it looked, we had just begun to inspect our surroundings when an awful scraping sound startled us both. We glanced up to see the opening in the ceiling (otherwise known as the hole in the previous level's floor) sealing itself up. Rita let out a nervous sound as we watched the last of the opening shut.

"Uh-oh," I sighed heavily. _I guess I just attract bad luck, don't I?_

Rita was in too much of a panic to be able to say anything coherent. She was pacing back and forth, almost hyperventilating as she choked out things along the lines of "_can't get back_"and "_won't find us_"and "_going to die_."

"Calm down, Rita," I advised, though I was also kind of worried. "If we can't go back up, then we just have to keep going forward, right? There's got to be another way out."

After a lot of coaxing on my part, we traveled deeper into the cave, though not without bumping into a few walls; it was too dark to distinguish a lot of the turns and openings. It seemed Corsola wasn't the only one who seemed to have a problem with our presence, as we were ambushed by two Kabuto and a Shellder before we even found the second hole in the ground that let us down another level (which sealed itself up just like the one before). Each time I defeated someone, I felt the weird lurch of energy that meant I was getting stronger, but I didn't learn any more moves. Too bad, as I was apparently so adorable as a Skitty that I had no real need for the move Attract. One of the Kabuto stopped in the middle of attacking me and just stared at me until I shooed him away. It was _extremely_ creepy.

"Do you hear that?" I asked Rita distractedly as we stood, four floors down, beside another crack in the floor that led to a deeper level.

She looked up at me and tilted her head, wordlessly asking for me to clarify what I was hearing.

"The ocean." I tipped my head to one side, leaning my head closer to the opening to hear better. I could hear the whisper of waves crashing on the beach. "It's not that far off, either." I looked up, catching sight of Rita's look of concentration. "You can't hear it, can you?" I asked though it was said more like a statement than a question.

Rita shook her head in response. "Nnnno…b-but I…believe you."

"Let's go find out where it is," I decided, leading the way down the hole. Rita followed, looking greener than usual.

Instantly, we spotted the source of the sounds I had heard; we were standing not ten feet off from a shore within the cave. Water from the ocean was washing in from an opening on the far side of the cave; the water was just lapping the top of that opening. "Told you so," I whispered to Rita smugly. The second thing we noticed was that Koffing and Zubat were standing at the water's edge, bickering between themselves.

"You said you scouted this place ahead of time!" Zubat screeched, rapidly flying in circles to divert his anger.

"Well, that would be because I did," Koffing defended himself. "This isn't my fault."

"You said we'd be able to get out through that opening over there!" I assumed that meant the hole through which ocean water was washing in and out of the cave. "Clearly that ain't gonna work. There is no possible way to get out of here!"

"It was low tide when I investigated this place," Koffing protested, frowning. "There was a lot less water in here then. How should I have known that this cave floods around then?" Zubat huffed and grumbled irritably but seemed not to have a response to that point. Instead he complained about how "those annoying kids" were going to catch up. How ironic.

"Ready?" I asked Rita quietly, crouching low to the ground as if preparing to pounce. "This is as good a time as any to catch them."

"N-no," Rita admitted, her voice shaking and her voice's pitch a whole octave higher that usual. "B-but I d-don't…hhhhave a choice…."

"No, not really," I agreed with a sheepish grin. "Go on, you talk to them. It's _your_ treasure, not mine, so _you_ need to ask for it back," I added upon catching sight of the horrified look she shot me.

Rita tried to steady herself by taking a few deep breaths, in through her nose and out through her mouth. It didn't calm her down completely, but it at least made her body a little less tense. She stiffly walked towards Koffing and Zubat, who were back to arguing about whether Koffing was responsible or not for their predicament. "E-…excuse m-mmme!" she squeaked out as loudly as she could. "I…I www-…want mmmy…t-t-t-treasure b-b-back!"

* * *

**A/N:**

**And there we go, chapter 1.3. Rita is using up this year's courage quota in order to get her treasure back. How will it go? I hope well, since I do need to keep advancing with the plot.**

**Random Fact #5: **Rita is about 1'10" tall, which is about a foot shorter than the average height of a Chikorita as it's recorded in the Pokédex. Kai is 1'3" tall, which is also shorter than what's recorded in the Pokédex, but that's because she's not full grown. In addition to still growing, Rita's just short.


	6. Chapter 1, Part 4: Rita's Request

The two squabbling thieves quieted at Rita's shout, and turned to look at us newcomers. "Well, well," Koffing mused aloud, looking surprised, "look who's here."

"It's the little baby squad, come to ruin our fun," Zubat scoffed. "Oh dear. How awful. _Whatever_ shall we do?"

Rita looked upset again and took a step back. However, this time she didn't back down, even though I could see her trembling. "Y-you're—um…p-…please g-give mmmme back…my t-t-t-treasure…," she told them less than confidently.

Zubat observed her with interest, and then glanced at Koffing's bag, in which we knew the rock was stowed. "Treasure, huh? So this thing really is valuable!" He puffed out his chest, apparently more proud of his theft now than he already was.

Koffing seemed to be in the same line of thinking. "It could be worth more than we thought, then. We could probably get a good price for it if we sold it to someone."

"That's great—for us at least," Zubat stated with a sinister grin in Rita's direction. "Perhaps not so lucky for you, though."

"…P-p-please…g-give it b-b-back!" Rita pleaded.

"Yeah, give it back now or…or, um…or else we'll…we'll pound you into the dust!" I threatened, hurrying to stand beside Rita.

Apparently we were not so threatening—big shocker there—because this display of courage was greeted by a loud burst of laughter. "This is priceless," Koffing choked out, laughing so hard that large amounts of foul-smelling gas were exuding from his pores. "The little kids think they can beat us up!"

"It's not funny!" I snapped as Koffing choked on his own pollution and _still_ kept laughing and Zubat plummeted down onto the sand when he forgot to breathe/flap his wings.

"All right," Zubat said between lingering chuckles as he struggled back up into the air, "if you both want it so badly…you can come and get it yourselves!"

"Deal," I stated, and lunged for Zubat without a second to waste. However, I had forgotten one crucial detail: I was still at a loss for my abilities. I had improved during the various battles I had encountered on the way here, but I was still nowhere near skilled. My leap, an effort to nip at one of Zubat's wings, was unaccomplished as my aim was off. I really hated having to get used to quadrupedal movement….

"This ought to be little trouble at all if _this_ is all you can do," Zubat said unkindly. I ignored him and lunged again, this time successfully grabbing hold of his body and pulling him down. He lay winded on the ground, examining the four indents in his skin where my upper and lower fangs had gripped, but not punctured, him. I allowed him a moment to recover his breath; judging by the workings of battles as Rita had explained them to me, it was only fair to allow him to recover slightly. Even if they were going to fight dirty, which seemed likely, I wanted to be at least semi-fair. "Huh. Not quite as much of a weakling as I thought," he observed.

Rita, meanwhile, had been struggling with Koffing. She struck him with her leaf, its sharp tip leaving a shallow cut across his circular body. Koffing retaliated by exhaling a cloud of poisonous gas right in front of her face. Rita kept her mouth tightly shut as long as she could stand while the gas slowly dispersed throughout the cavern, harmless in such tiny quantities. However, she eventually had to breathe and the gas had not completely dissipated. She gasped in lingering traces of it and instantly began coughing heavily, staggering. I had not been watching, but I heard her loudly trying to gasp in air.

I looked up from rabbit-kicking Zubat's belly with my hind paws. He had bitten my shoulder pretty badly before I had started kicking him, but it wasn't _too_ serious an injury. The bat-like Pokémon collapsed on his side, groaning faintly and protecting his stomach from further harm by wrapping his wings around himself. I surmised he was sufficiently punished and raced over to assist Rita. "Rita, are you okay?"

The Chikorita's legs had collapsed under her and Koffing was watching with apparent indifference. Rita didn't have the breath to tell me what had happened, so she settled for a wild gesture in Koffing's direction.

I quickly surmised what happened. "You _poisoned_ her?" I asked Koffing incredulously.

"Yep, sounds about right," he replied casually. He blew a puff of gas in my face. This gas was harmless, but even so, it infuriated me.

I hissed angrily and smacked his body with a paw. He fell through the air, hit the ground, bounced once, and landed lightly again. I ran up to him, hitting his side, and he rolled off across the sand. Rita stayed where she was to recover. I powerfully batted Koffing around like he was a ball, and it was fun too. I gave him one last whack and he spun off, stopping when he bumped into Zubat, who was still lying on the ground. "You know, I don't appreciate being treated like a toy!" he complained. He glanced over at Zubat. "Well, I sure don't feel like sticking around anymore. Are we gonna play fair now?"

I gave them a smug grin from where I stood nearby Rita, who was now recovering from the effects of the poisonous gas. "You'd better. We won, fair and square, and now you've gotta pay up."

Zubat grunted as he struggled to a sitting position. "Whatever. These two would probably sick the guild on us if we didn't…." He buried his head in Koffing's pouch and emerged with Rita's pet rock. He tossed it over to us; thankfully, it looked like it hadn't been handled poorly. "Here. Take the stupid thing."

"That old piece of junk probably wouldn't have gotten us as much as you kiddies think it's worth anyway," Koffing said sulkily as Rita determinedly stumbled over to examine her rock for damage. He slowly rose into the air as Zubat lifted a few inches off the ground.

"We rock!" I exclaimed jubilantly. No pun intended. "We totally rock. We won! In your face!" I taunted the troublesome duo. They exchanged incredulous looks as I started to do my own rendition of a happy dance.

"Alright, enough of that." I stopped dancing and stared at Koffing instead. "Don't kid yourself into thinking you've got skill," he went on scornfully. "You won by pure luck. We went easy on you."

"_Sure_ you did."

"But we won't underestimate you next time," Zubat warned. "You remember that." He glanced sideways at Koffing. "Let's get out of here." They managed to wriggle out through the opening in the rock during a long lull between waves, and soon they had left the caves behind.

"Is it okay? Not broken?" I asked Rita anxiously as she stowed the stone in her pouch. _I can't see her face….I hope it's okay after all that._

She turned back around, looking ecstatic. "It's f-…fine. I…wwwould have…thought…they'd be…c-careless w-with it…."

"Not if they wanted to sell it," I pointed out. "It already looks like it was broken off from a bigger rock, so I don't think they'd have wanted it to be damaged any further." I paused. "_Was_ it part of a bigger rock? How come it's so important to you?"

Rita looked thoughtful. I assume she was considering what to tell me. However, she shook her head. I was disappointed until she said, "I…I'll t-t-t-tell you once…we g-get…out of here." She sighed. "I-if we can…."

"Sure we can," I told her cheerfully. "We'll just have to follow Zubat and Koffing." I gestured towards the mouth of the cave.

Rita stared out at the water and then back at me. "…Swim?" she asked incredulously. "C-…_can_ you sssswim?" I nodded and hoped I looked more confident than I felt. I had never tried to swim as a Skitty, for obvious reasons, but hopefully all would go well. Couldn't be much different than doggy-paddling. "…Mmmmy bag is…going to get ssssoaked," she sighed, but held onto it tightly with her teeth and launched herself into the water.

"Or we could wait until the tide goes out," I commented thoughtfully, "though that would probably take hours. Or we could look for some other way out."

Rita looked a little annoyed, but she either didn't want to complain or she didn't want to relax the grip on her bag. She paused, treading water, and muttered around the strap, "L-let's just swim." _Because you already made me get in the water, _I mentally added for her.

"Okay," I replied succinctly, and waded out into the waves until I could no longer touch the bottom. "This isn't so bad," I told myself as I worked to propel myself through the water. Four-legged swimming _was_ remarkably like doggy-paddling, just as I thought. I splashed around, enjoying the feel of the water around me, even if it was saturated with salt and sand particles. It kind of stung my shoulder where Zubat had bitten me, but I was too busy relishing in the ocean to care.

Rita struggled to keep her small legs moving. By this time she had relinquished her death grip on the bag and left it in its usual position over one shoulder and around her stomach, and it sluggishly dragged behind her in the water. I was surprised she was even able to move at half my pace, pulling a stone behind her. She was stronger than she looked. "…You llllook a-…almost as at hhhhome…as the w-water…P-Pokémon do," she said in what I would have taken to be an offhand comment if not for her curious stare. I guess there aren't many swimming Skitties.

"Really?" I asked. "I love the ocean. My family used to take me to the beach all the time." The words flew out of my mouth before I could wonder at where they came from.

"Your f-family?" Rita asked curiously. She looked happy, and I could tell that she was pleased that this tidbit of information had returned to my memory. "Wou-…would you go…sssswimming…there?"

"Um…." The words did not come as quickly as they had moments before, but I felt sure that I knew the answer. The thing was, I couldn't remember a lot about the beach at home. It was like the memory was shattered into little fragments, and I only had one or two. "I don't know. There's something _weird_ about that beach memory…."

"D-d-do you…rrrrrrremember anything else?" Rita asked hopefully.

I thought long and hard, still steadily paddling towards the hole in the wall. "Nope," I finally sighed.

"Oh…w-well…that's okay," Rita said, at first disappointed but then making an attempt to stay optimistic. "It llllooks like y-your…mmmmemory's a-already…c-coming back."

"I suppose…."

We were silent as we squeezed out through the gap in the wall, thrilled to find that once on the other side we could see the entrance to the caves and the beach we had come from, not far off from where we were. I helped to guide Rita, who was tiring quickly, to the shore. She shuddered, looking at her drenched and sandy sides. "…Th-this is g-gross…."

"At least you don't have fur," I pointed out, shaking myself to shed a bucket load of clinging salty droplets from my sopping pelt. The sand caking my body had mostly washed off in the ocean, but now it was like I was a walking sponge. "Besides, since you're a grass Pokémon, you just absorb most of the water right off your skin." _Okay, why did I know that?_

Rita took one look at my fur and its remarkable sponge-like properties and commented that she now had a new appreciation for the fact that she did not have fur and could, indeed, absorb most of the water from her skin. I gave myself a few more shakes but gave up before long. "So, the stone?" I prompted.

"Oh…rrrrrrright." Rita pulled said rock from her bag and almost reverently set it in front of me. I examined it closely. Despite my first impression, this was certainly more than a regular piece of stone. It looked deliberately cut from a larger slab of rock, and it was intricately designed with a strange pattern. "…C-can you rrr-…read?" she asked suddenly.

"What? Um, yeah, unless Pokémon have their own writing system that's different from humans," I replied, confused.

"I d-don't…llllike…to t-t-talk much," Rita admitted. "I-it's…easier to…w-write. But…I d-d-don't knnnow…hhhhum-…human writing."

"So you use a different writing system?"

"Y-…yes. It's c-…c-called…f-footprint rrrrunes….but sssssince you d-don't know it…I'll t-t-t-t-talk."

I nodded. "Okay. Sorry, Rita."

Rita shrugged uncomfortably, attempting to play it off but failing miserably. She looked anxious. "Th-this is mmmmmy…Rrrrelic F-fragment…." She glanced out at the ocean with a distant, reminiscent gaze. "…I lllllike to…listen t-t-to…ssstories. O-ones about…adventures." She smiled at me shyly. "Sssso…one day…my mmmmom…t-took me on…mmmmy own…adventure. Sh-…she was…lllleaving on a trip...and it w-…was her…g-goodbye…present. W-we…were…w-walking through….sssssome caves…and I t-tripped…over th-…this." Rita indicated her Relic Fragment. "It…w-wasn't there…before. Mmmy…mom…t-told mmmm-…me…f-finding out…w-what it b-belonged t-t-to…would be mmmy…f-first mission…."

She trailed off and didn't speak for a moment. Then she seemed to jerk herself out of it and shook her head slightly. She glanced at me, I guess to assess whether or not she was welcome to keep talking, and hesitantly began speaking again. "B-but…um…th-that's…why I…w-want to…join W-…Wi-…Wigglytuff's…G-guild." …Huh? A what? "I…want t-t-to…find out…w-what this…piece…belongs t-to." Her face lit up as she spoke. "Even if it…t-takes me y-years and…I have to t-travel…all over the…world! Sssso I w-…went to…Wigglytuff's Guild this mmmmorning, to…j-join as an…a-…appre-…a—pren—tice," she carefully enunciated.

_But if she were a part of it now, she probably wouldn't be here. _"Um…how'd it go?" I asked hesitantly.

The look of rapture suddenly faded away. She glanced away from my eyes. "It…it d-didn't…rrrrreally…g-…go…ssssso well," she finished lamely. Judging by her body language, I'm guessing she just got too nervous rather than having been turned away. "I…I'll…just hhhhhave to…t-try again…."

Some kind of revelation dawned on her face, as if something had only just occurred to her. She looked at me a little guiltily. "Oh…w-what are…_you_ g-going t-to do…Kai? You d-d-d-don't hhhave…anywhere t-to go…d-d-do you?"

I shook my head. "No…not really. Not unless I break into a stranger's house and live under their 'frige or something."

Rita looked at me oddly. "'Frige'? Is that another human thing?"

"Oh. Yeah, it's short for refrigerator, which is a big box that keeps food cold."

"Thhhhat sounds…nnnneat…? But…d-do you…w-_want_…t-to llllive under…sssssomeone's…refr-…re-…refrrrrige-…thing that keeps food cold?"

Slightly amused by the fact that she thought this was a viable option, I shook my head. "No, not particularly."

"W-…well…if…i-it's okay…." She hesitated and trailed off, beginning to look hopeful.

"What?" I asked curiously.

"Well…w-…would you mmmaybe…form an…exploration team…with me?" she asked in a rush. She blushed afterwards, as if embarrassed by the sudden outpouring of words.

"Wait a minute!" I interrupted, taken aback. Her face fell instantly, and, as per usual, she turned beet red. "I…I'm not saying no, Rita, but…I don't even know what an exploration team _is_," I protested weakly.

"…Well…nnnnneither d-d-do I…c-completely," Rita admitted shyly. "I d-don't know exactly…hhhhhhow it…works, but…I knnnow the guild t-t-t-trains…individual…P-Pokémon, or t-teams…to explore f-far off…places and…rrrrescue…llllost or hurt…P-Pokémon. And…sssssometimes they all…t-travel as a…group to d-different…p-places. Thhhey all llllive…at the g-guild…sss-…so they d-don't…come into t-town except…to sh-…shop…and we d-don't…hear that…mmmmuch from them…b-but I've a-…always…w-wanted to j-…join…and…I thou-…thought…sssssince you have…nnnowhere to…g-go…."

I considered this idea of Rita's. The fact that no one knew much about how this guild thing worked made me a little nervous but I was more curious as to what it was. Like…_really_ curious.

…Okay, yes, I wanted to join just because I was curious. Forget food and shelter and the fact that I'm a Skitty right now, there's a mystery about! So sue me.

More importantly, though, Rita probably needed the support if she was ever going to be brave enough to train, let alone sign up, and I don't think anyone else was able to give that support to her. I get the impression she has very few or even no other friends.

"Okay," I agreed. "It kind of sounds fun. I'll join with you," I told her with a smile.

Rita just stared at me for a moment, "are you really serious?" written all over her face. When I didn't retract my statement, her face lit up. "…You will? Rrrreally? …Thhhank you, K-Kai!" She grinned wider than I'd seen her do all day. "I'm…nnnnot a…b-born a-…adventurer…but I…thhhink I…could mmmmake it…with a p-…partner." We exchanged a smile before Rita nodded to a path leading away from the beach that I had not noticed before. "L-let's go!"

**

* * *

**

**A/N:**

**Anyone else think it's a little selfish/manipulative of the partner Pokémon to ask that the player join the guild? I mean, the player kind of just woke up from being passed out on the beach, with no memory of his/her past, which would **_**probably**_** be kind of traumatizing. Then, after going on a wild goose chase to hunt down a stolen **_**rock**_**, the partner is like, "Hey, by the way, I want to join this guild thing, so even though you're probably very confused, still really freaked out by being a Pokémon, and worried about what to do with yourself stranded in a world where you know only me, come and join me! It'll be fun!" Yeah, that would kind of tick me off.**

**Of course, Kai's the kind of person who wouldn't look at it from that perspective and just automatically goes "yay, that **_**does**_**sound fun! I get to help people!" Note that even though Rita says nothign about food or shelter, Kai doesn't even think about what to eat, where she's going to live, or her need to figure out how to become human again, like any normal person would….**

**So! Random Fact #5: **Kai's favorite color is bright red (which, ironically enough, I decided before I picked out her aura color). Her favorite shape is a circle. Her favorite food is the green bean, which she vaguely remembers from her past. Her favorite smell is the smell of the outdoors after it rains. Her favorite flower is the daffodil.


	7. SPECIAL EPISODE 1: New Beginnings

_Today's the day. Today, I'm really going to do it._

I paced back and forth, back and forth. Occasionally I glanced up at the pink Wigglytuff tent looming ahead of me or the grate in front of me, but mostly I just walked. I forced myself to take deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heartbeat. _I can do it. I can do it. I can do it...ahhh, this is scary...but I can do it..._

Who am I? I'm Rita the Chikorita, a huge coward and the most common subject of local gossip. The first thing you'd notice about me is that I stutter. It's a speech problem I'll never be rid of (because if I was going to grow out of it, I would have before now), and it gets worse when I'm nervous. It makes me not want to talk sometimes, because some Pokémon look at me different, like I'm stupid. I'm pretty shy anyway, so I don't like talking much in the first place. It's unusual for a Chikorita to be shy, so I'm the metaphorical black Mareep.

I'm quiet and don't talk to very many people. I don't have much self-confidence and I don't ever feel comfortable being the center of attention. I don't have even an ounce of bravery. Most of all, though, I hate having to put myself forward for anything. I get really scared when I have to. I'm always worried I'll be laughed at or rejected—and this situation here wasn't an exception. Every time I tried to take a step towards the grate, just one step, I froze up and shook like a leaf...

I squeezed my eyes shut and stumbled away from the grate. _I can't do it. I_ still _can't do it. I'm _still_ too scared!_ Tears of frustration collected in the corners of my tightly shut eyes and rolled a short way down my face before being absorbed back into my body. As per usual, my skin was soaking up every bit of moisture that touched it. It's the same for every grass-type Pokémon. I would know—I was a horrible crybaby, so I had a lot of experience with this. _I'm such a coward._

Taking uneven, shaky, sobbing breaths, I blindly wandered in the opposite direction of the grate and sat down a good distance away. Choking back the babyish whimpers that _always_, without fail, accompanied my crying, I finally opened my eyes and slipped off my shoulder bag. It's pretty old and worn out, with a lot of holes. The only thing I keep in it is my most precious treasure, and that's what I had pulled out from the bag, put on the ground, and held under my forefeet. Just touching the unnaturally smooth stone helped calm me a lot of the time. It was important to me and helped me not to lose focus on my dreams. _I thought that if I brought my treasure __with__ me, I might be brave enough to go in...but I'm not. I'm such a coward...No wonder everyone makes fun of me!_

I slipped my treasure back into my bag and stood up, blinking furiously and shaking my head to rid myself of urge to just stay there and continue to cry. At that moment, I just wanted to be as far away from the guild and civilization as possible. The perfect place for that was the beach. Since the beach was only a short walk from Treasure Town, the residents took it for granted. It's pretty likely I'll be the only one there. I wasn't always a resident, so having a beach practically at my front door still feels kind of cool. I loved it there...and it was definitely a great place to sunbathe. I dashed away from the guild as quickly as my legs could take me.

It was only about a ten minute walk down from the guild to the beach. I couldn't make it all the way there running. I don't have all that much stamina, and Chikorita have short legs which makes it even harder. Besides, crying tends to take the energy right out of you. Huffing and puffing, I slowed to a stop along the final stretch. I continued on by walking, and stood staring absently into the distance. I didn't even notice the bubbles drifting lazily on the breeze until one popped right in my face and I squeaked.

_Bubbles?_ I wondered, staring at the spot the bubble had been a moment before. Another floated by. Then another. _Oh, that's right...the Krabby should be out_,I realized. I glanced to my right over the ocean. Just as I expected, hundreds upon hundreds of foamy bubbles were blowing out over the water and into the sunset. Krabby were perched on the red rocks scattered along the end of the beach where I stood, spitting bubbles into the air in long streams. They were wild Krabby, so they couldn't talk, but as long as I left them alone I was free to do whatever I wanted here. The hundreds of bubbles they were blowing glittered in the light of the setting sun, their tops tinted red, gold, and orange like fire and their bottoms reflecting the surface of the blue ocean. The water sparkled with light and a trail of gold spilled out from where the sun touched the horizon.

_I almost forgot about this_, I thought to myself, awestruck. The bubbles were successfully distracting me from my sorrows. _It's just as beautiful as always. Almost reminds me of—_

I shook my head fiercely. _No, I'm not going to think about that. I can think about the Relic Fragment. I can think about what to do in the future. I'm_ not _going to think about that. _Dwelling on memories would only make me sadder. It was while I was moving my head that I saw a blur of pink in the corner of my eye. I froze. _Did...someone follow me?_ I wondered.I turned slowly, not knowing what to expect.

A splash of peach, some pale pink, and mostly the color of drying sand met my eyes. I couldn't even tell what it was, sprawled out on the edge of the coast; it was almost completely coated in a layer of damp sand. I took a few steps closer, looked closely, and jerked back with surprise. The lump had moved! I waited to make sure, and sure enough, whatever it was twitched again.

I let out an earsplitting scream and ran for cover. _It's alive! It's alive! What if it comes and eats me? _I wondered frantically. _Oh, no...Oh, no...What am I gonna—wait...That thing is smaller than I am._ In fact, the colorful blob was probably quite a few inches smaller than me, so in retrospect it was hard to remember exactly how it had scared me so badly. _Stupid, stupid, stupid..._, I scolded myself as I crept out of my hiding place. _Scared of a little thing like _that_..._ Knowing it was so small did nothing to calm my racing heartbeat, though. I walked up to the thing slowly. I could see it breathing. Very gently, I brushed some of the sand off of its face. It...it was...a...Skitty?

I was a little surprised. I hadn't seen a Skitty in years, and I heard there weren't that many of them to begin with. Then I realized that the Skitty hadn't even stirred while I touched her. Normally, a sleeping Skitty would instantly wake up and probably get mad at the Pokémon that touched her. This Skitty did nothing at all. She didn't even move an inch.

...I kind of panicked.

"Oh, nnno! W-...wh...what ha-...happened?" I asked aloud, completely freaking out. "A-are...uh, are y-you o-o-okay?" I gently poked the Skitty in the side. When there was no response, I shoved her harder. "Oh, no...p-please wake up!" I begged, nearly hyperventilating. We didn't have a medical center around here. It would be really horrible if a fellow Pokémon died right in front of me. "I don't k-know how t...to do...C...P...R!"

As soon as the word _CPR_ made its way out of my mouth, the Skitty began to stir. It peeked out through half-lidded eyes and squirmed into a halfway sitting position before falling right back down. Something seemed to surprise it, I guess, because a look of utter shock took over its face and it sat up so quickly it almost toppled over again. It was sitting pretty oddly at that, trying not to use its front legs to support it much. Maybe it was hurt? I hoped that wasn't the case. Like I said, there are no medical facilities around here.

"Oh...thhhank g-goodnnness!" I exclaimed, almost fainting of pure happiness. "I d-d-d-don't...hhhave to do...that! Thhhhat w-...would have been...sssso a-...awk—ward, and I d-don't knnnow...hhhow, sssso I'm...rrrrreally glad you...w-woke up...before I hhhad to...t-t-try!" I babbled on, watching the Skitty look around. Normally I wasn't this talkative...at all...but extreme relief does that to a Pokémon. "You...weren't m—mmmoving at all. I d-didn't even know if you...were...b-breathing, except you...t-t-t...twitched right before I...c-came over...ssss-so you had to be alive, but it w-would've been...hhhhorrible if you hadn't wo-...wok-..._wo_-_ken_ up; I d-don't know...w-what I...would have d-d-done!" _Oops. Maybe that was a little _too_ much rambling_, I thought when I noticed the Skitty no longer looking around but at me with a vaguely confused expression. I instantly grew silent, blushing with embarrassment. _Great way to make a first impression_...

"D-do you...rrrrremember w-what happened?" I asked shyly, feeling the blush lingering in my face.

"How I got here?" she—for the voice implied it was a girl—asked softly. She looked—for a Skitty—about my age, too. _Maybe...she could become my...friend?_ "Uh...um...I don't know." The _very_ expressive Pokémon now sounded and looked lost. "Last I remember, I was..." She paused, and her face screwed up almost comically, but fell into a mask of complete horror. "Actually...I don't know where I was last, either. I don't even know where _here _is!"

Naturally, my stutter chose to now act up even worse. "...M...mmmaybe you...h-hit your head or sss...something?" I finally forced out, trying to find a reasonable explanation for her memory loss. "Or, um...mmmaybe you...just mmi—migrated here...or y-you're v-visiting...and th-that's w-why you don't k-know this place," I added hopefully.

"I...I don't know...," she replied worriedly, chewing thoughtfully on her bottom lip. I wasn't sure what to say to that, so we wound up sitting in silence for a minute or two, me trying to work up the courage to keep the channel of conversation open and the Skitty with a faraway look in her eyes.

"I...I'm...Rrrrrita," I blurted out, finally, before I lost the nerve to introduce myself. _What if she knows who I am? What if someone told her about me? What if she...doesn't like me?_

"Uh-huh..." The Skitty didn't say anything more, still staring into the distance.

There was another, _way_ more awkward silence where we both just kind of stared. "...Sssso, ah...wh-...who are y-you? D-d-do you...rrrrremember any r—rrrrelatives' names or a-anything?" _Way to go, genius, asking the amnesiac if she remembers things..._

The Skitty grimaced. "I'm sorry, but I just can't remember," she said apologetically, as if she had anything to be sorry about. "I could probably tell you where I'm from if I found my backpack, though. My map is in there." She glanced around, apparently looking for this "backpack." "Have you seen one lying around anywhere?"

"B-back...pack? Wh—what's a p-pa-...pa-...p-...a...w-what's thhhat?" I asked.

The Skitty looked incredulous, as if she couldn't believe I didn't know what a backpack was. "Uh, well, it's a bag you wear on your back, over your shoulders."

A bag you wear on your back? Definitely never heard of or saw one. _Now_ we were getting somewhere. "I've n-never sssseen one. You rrrreally mmmust-t-t...be f-from p-pretty fa-...far away. I k-knew I h-hadn't ssseen any Ssss-...any...any Ssskitties...living in t-t-t...town...before," I added excitedly, sure that we were getting on the right track as to figuring out who this Pokémon was. Now, all we had to do was find a Pokémon who knew what a backpack was, and then we could—

"Skitties? What do they have to do with anything?" She looked increasingly wary, apparently sizing me up and making sure I wasn't just some crazy Pokémon freshly set free from the asylum.

I blinked, shocked, and felt my face burning with embarrassment. I tried to apologize for mistaking her for a Skitty when, apparently, she wasn't one, but it came out a big mess of stuttering. I wasn't sure if she understood me, but I felt awful. Skitties were very distinctive-looking; how could someone mistake another Pokémon for a Skitty? Well, since it was me, it wasn't as if it would surprise anyone...but still...

She had gotten the gist of what I was trying to say, I think, but she continued to look skeptical, with a hint of surprise tingeing her voice. "Me? A Skitty?" She shook her head. "No, I'm human. Tall and walk on two legs and stuff like that." She spoke firmly and confidently, as if she really believed what she said.

"...What?" Needless to say, that isn't something you hear every day. In fact, it sounded...a lot like how the other kids would talk to me. I guess she must have heard from someone who I was. What I was like. I was hurt._ And here I was, wondering if we could be friends..._

I was speechless. I couldn't even say a word for a good minute or two, and when I did, it was easy to tell how upset I was that she would take me for someone so gullible. Feeling ashamed of my stutter—is that why she's making fun of me?—I decided to whisper. Weirdly enough, it helps a lot. "..._Is this supposed to be a joke? It's really not funny. Not at all. I know everyone in the village thinks I'm just a scardy-Meowth and a crybaby and that it's weird that I stutter, but I can't help that! This is...just...mean..._"

A look of shock and intense confusion came over her. "Huh? What are you talking about?" I gazed back at her, silently daring her to play dumb again. "I'm not kidding," she insisted. "I'm sorry, but I really have no idea what you're talking about."

I looked closely at her and saw the sincerity and a genuine lack of understanding in her wide eyes. She was sorry she had done something to hurt me, and she didn't understand what she had said to cause it. I could feel my anger draining away; if she really was just trying to mess with me, she was doing her job well. I wasn't that sure she was just kidding around anymore. She certainly looked like she believed it.

"We-...wellll...you're d-d-d-d-definitely n-not...hhhhuman," I said finally, unsure of what to make of her. "Y-y-you llllook like a Ssssskitty, a-...and...you sssound...lllike a Ssssskitty." I paused, thinking of how best to prove it. "Ssssssp-...ssspin around..." The Skitty nodded in agreement. First she tried standing on her hind legs. It didn't work very well, and she fell almost as soon as she attempted it. Concentrating hard, she tried again, but failed once more. I guess she gave up after that, because, looking very concerned, she remained on all four feet and gingerly walked in a circle. I noticed that she was having trouble walking, which was pretty strange. But she _was_ limping just slightly, and judging by her careful movements, she felt sore. I suspected that if I parted her fur I'd find bruises scattered all along her body. That could very well have been why she was walking weirdly. She must have gone through something awful to get here.

Finally, she settled back down, waiting for my verdict. I swallowed, warily telling her, "...You definitely lllllook-k...lllike a Ssss-...Sskitty...t-t-t-tail and all."

Whatever she had been expecting, this must not have been it. "What?" she exclaimed, obviously scared. "No...no, I'm human. I'm definitely human!" she stated anxiously, her eyes wide with fear and bewilderment. "I just know it!"

I blinked, surprised by this reaction. I wasn't sure how to respond to her. I mean, few, if any, Pokémon have ever had to deal with a frantic stranger insisting they were human when clearly they did not resemble one in any way, shape, or form. _What's going on here? Could she really be confused? Is she really telling the truth?_ "W-well...llllook for...yourself..." I nodded to the ocean. It was the best I could do; if she saw for herself that she was a Skitty, there was no way she could deny it. She looked anxious, but clumsily stumbled into the shallows. I followed and stood next to her while she peered into the water.

For a moment, she was silent. I felt her stiffen beside me and watched the fur along her spine stand on end. She looked...freaked. Honestly, genuinely freaked. She scanned the water with rapidly moving eyes and suddenly stumbled out of the water and inland. I followed her, concerned. She looked utterly petrified, whispering to herself and seeming not to be aware of it. I could see her trembling and she looked too genuinely upset to be faking it. This couldn't be an act.

I gasped quietly, imagining the implications of her story. The Skitty looked up as if just remembering I was there. "You...were sssserious...w-...w-...weren't you?" I felt myself frown, remembering the few instances when I had noticed something off about her. "You _were _acting...k-kind of odd f-...for a Skitty."

The Skitty merely gazed back at me pitifully. Looking at this sorry sight and how I doubted the reality of it made me feel ashamed of myself. Not long ago I would have believed every word she said right off the bat. I was getting too cynical these days. "I b-...bel-...believe you now. I'm sss-...sorry I accu-...accused you of p-...p-playing t-tricks on me. I...uh...sssome P-...Pokémon like to...pick on mmme. Mmmmostly those...m-my age." I suppressed a shudder, trying to shake off the memories of just how true that was, and turned my focus back to the Skitty. "And you llllook...a-about as old as...I-I am."

The Skitty nodded distractedly. "...I forgive you. I wouldn't have believed me either," she murmured.

I hesitated. _Be brave, Rita...!_ I took a deep breath...and extended a foreleg hesitantly. "Um...F-friends?"

The Skitty seemed to consider it for a moment. "...Okay, sure." She smiled painfully, which wasn't surprising after the emotional trauma she'd just gone through, and held out her own paw. We touched paws.

In that moment, making friends with someone, I thought that maybe things were taking a turn for the better.

**A/N:**

**Rita is so much easier to write when I can get inside her head. SO much easier. She's very introverted and she likes thinking to herself rather than talking to other people, so it's **_**hard **_**trying to get her to seem like, you know, an actual person.**

**To go along with the theme of the last random fact, here's Random Fact #6: **Rita's favorite color is lavender. Her favorite shape's a triangle, of the equal-sided variety. Her favorite food (besides grass gummis) is the Pecha berry, plain and simple, but if photosynthesizing counts then that's her top pick. Her favorite smell is that of different flowers, and her favorite flower happens to be lilacs.


	8. Chapter 2 Part 1: The New Guild Recruits

Rita definitely wasn't lying when she mentioned on the way there that Wigglytuff's Guild was hard to miss. I could see the pink building not long after we entered the outskirts of the village, or as it was called, Treasure Town. It was a fairly well-established, though small, town from what I could see of it passing by. I was surprised to see the amount of Pokémon that lived there and the rather humanlike community they had managed to form. I was so curious to see what it was like around here, but before I could ask to look around, Rita was rocketing up the cliff side towards the building.

Upon reaching it, I soon realized that it was nowhere near as tall as it looked from the town. It was actually more tent-like than a building. It was, quite literally, shaped and colored like a Wigglytuff. The entrance was barred; a wide, circular grate stood a foot in front of it, though I didn't know what it was for.

"…Thhhhis is it," Rita explained unnecessarily. She was beginning to look nervous again as she looked up at the towering figure of the Wigglytuff tent. "Thi—this is…where we ought t-t-to…sssssign up to b-become ap-…appre-…apprentices…."

"What exactly do we have to do?" I asked, glancing over at Rita.

"Nnnnobody is…rrrrreally s-sure of w-what you have t-t-to do to…ssssign up. I hhheard the t-training itssself is rrr-really…hard…." She trailed off, looking worried. "B-but…um…I h-have to d-d-d-do th-this…sss-so…." She glanced towards the entrance. "T-t-t-t…to g-get ins-side, y-you have to…st-stand on the g-grate in f-…front of the e-entrance. S-someone examines your f-footprint to…sssee what P-Pokémon y-you are, and th-then they llllet you in."

"I wonder why they need to know who's going into the guild," I thought aloud.

"I…I-I, um…I d-don't knnnow," Rita admitted, blushing slightly. Jeez, this Chikorita was embarrassed by _everything_.

"Should I go first?" I offered. She would probably be more comfortable if I stood on the grate before she did, since she was so shy.

"Nnn-…no…," Rita said unexpectedly. "Thhhhis was…mmmy idea….sss-so I ought t-t-to…b-be b-brave…." Her voice grew higher and higher pitched and wavered more and more with each word because she was so scared, but she swallowed hard, gritted her teeth, and stepped forwards onto the grate.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" A shrill, echoing voice called out from seemingly nowhere. I jumped about a mile high into the air while Rita visibly struggled against her fight-or-flight response.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" another, farther away-sounding voice asked. I hoped _we_ weren't the ones supposed to respond because I have no idea where these people—Pokémon—were.

"The footprint is Chikorita's!" the voice exclaimed rather triumphantly a moment later. "The footprint is Chikorita's!"

Rita took shaky breaths through her mouth, her legs starting to shake. The two Pokémon who were talking were now quiet; Rita was either still spooked by the unexpected shouts or getting even more nervous since she had not received permission to enter yet. "I think they're talking about letting you in," I told her; I could hear snatches of almost inaudible talking, though I still had no idea where it was coming from. Judging by Rita's look of confusion, she was unable to hear it; I must have better hearing than she did.

Finally, another shout alerted us to the decision. "You may ENTER!" one of the voices told us very loudly. Rita sighed in relief and scrambled off the grate with the desperation of someone taking her first steps onto the mainland after being stranded on a small, deserted island. "Someone's with you!" the voice pointed out. _What a shocker_. "So get that stranger to stand up THERE!"

Rita wordlessly gestured to the grate. She was still shaking, although I suspected that this was probably because she worked herself up so much and she needed to calm down.

"That thing really freaks me out," I nervously muttered to Rita. "It looks like I'll just fall through and die or something." Yes, I am indeed one of those people who can't _stand_ to walk on things covering a giant hole, especially if you can see said hole like you can through this grate.

Rita's eyes widened and she let out a little gasp. She glanced from the grate to me and back to the grate before shooting me a completely petrified look that told me I should never mention that theory again.

"Hey you! Get on the GRATE!" the second voice yelled at us irritably.

"Fine, fine. Hold your Ponyta," I grumbled under my breath to cover up my hesitancy. I very, _very_ carefully made my way onto the middle of the grate and stood there _very _carefully trying _very _hard not to breathe or otherwise disturb the grate to make it cave in.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" the first mysterious voice declared, and I heard a not-so-subtle grunt of "finally" from the second mysterious voice. Then I realized that the voices were coming from below the grate. I had figured there must have been a tunnel or burrow of some sort beneath me, but I didn't try to look down to investigate. That would not have been a good idea. My irrational fear of grates would not allow it.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is….The footprint is…um…."

"What's the matter?" Voice #2 asked impatiently. There was no answer. "Sentry?" No response. "SENTRY? What's wrong, sentry Diglett?"

"Uh…er…umm…."

I shot a bewildered glance over at Rita. "Should I help them out?" She just shrugged, looking equally confused.

"The footprint is…maybe Skitty's! Maybe Skitty's!"

"WHAT?_ MAYBE_?"

The Diglett and whoever the second voice belonged to began arguing between themselves. Rita and I just awkwardly stood where we were until we heard about whether or not we were admitted inside. It was another minute before we got that answer. "…Sorry to make you WAIT," the second voice called up. "Well, it's true that you don't see any Skitties in these parts…but you don't SEEM to be bad….Okay, good enough! ENTER!" A racket of clanking and clicking prevented any attempt to thank the unknown entities as, true to that statement, the metal gate raised.

Rita breathed in loudly and emitted some sort of half excited, half nervous squeak. She smiled, half sheepishly and half completely exhilarated. "I…I'm sssso….Um, lllet's go!"

"Right!" I replied happily. Rita wasn't sure how to express it in words, but it was clear she was completely psyched for this, and she was so excited that it must be rubbing off on me. Rita walked in stiffly, as if she wasn't sure whether she wanted to let loose and act as excited as she was or if she was still feeling too nervous to be comfortable. We immediately spotted the ladder that descended underground and we hurried down it, commenting on how cool all this was despite the fact that all we'd seen so far consisted to just that: the ladder.

"W-wow…!" Rita breathed out once we had reached the first level. "This is…sss-so cool…!"

"No _kidding_!" I couldn't help but agree with her. I stared around with my mouth gaping open. The room we had entered was well-lit by sunlight streaming in through windows overlooking the ocean. Billboards flanked either side of the room, and too many Pokémon to count were grouped around the room, chatting animatedly about "missions," payments, and various other topics I did not yet understand. We wandered into the middle of the room, taking in the scene.

"…There's s-so mmmmany…Pokémon…," Rita marveled, blushing and turning away when a few Pokémon who had noticed our entrance pointed us out to their companions. "I w-…wonder if thhhey _all_…b-belong to the g-guild…."

"Excuse me!" A pompous voice cut across the noise of the room. Rita and I peered over at the ladder. A Chatot stood there, peering carefully around the room. I supposed he must be a prominent figure in the guild, since the other Pokémon quieted as soon as he spoke up. "I'm looking for a Chikorita and _maybe_ a Skitty."

Instantly, dozens of heads snapped in our direction along with accompanying whispers. Rita tried to duck behind me (it didn't work; I was shorter than her) while I just let out an embarrassed cough. I didn't really know what else to do.

The Chatot followed the gazes of the other Pokémon and nodded. "Ah. Thank you. Carry on!"

"What are the chances this is bad?" I muttered to Rita as Chatot approached and most, though not all, of the Pokémon lost interest and went back to their previous activities. Rita didn't reply; her mouth was seemingly glued shut with fear.

"You two are the ones who just entered, right?" the Chatot asked without any form of greeting.

"Yes, um…sir…?" I replied hesitantly. Was I supposed to call him sir? Apparently not everyone did, much less a stranger, since he looked really taken aback, but he seemed to appreciate it.

"I'm Chatot," Chatot introduced himself, adding, "I am the right-hand Pokémon of Guildmaster Wigglytuff, as the second-in-command here at the guild." He puffed up his feathers, clearly proud of his rank. "Now shoo!" he demanded quite suddenly. Rita jumped, looking shocked. "Leave here at once. I don't know what those imbeciles at the sentry post were thinking when they admitted you into the establishment, but we have no time for silly surveys and there is nothing we wish to buy from you!"

"But we're not here to sell anything!" I protested. "Or ask you questions!"

Chatot ignored us and kept glaring.

"Ah…" Rita's look of fright grew deeper and she struggled to say something, but nothing was coming out. She was probably worried we'd really be turned away and it was making her too nervous to talk right.

I drew myself up to my full height and tried to look confident. "We want to form an exploration team. We want to join the guild as apprentices, if you would let us!"

* * *

**A/N:**

**Shorter chapter than usual today...Sorry about that. It seemed like a good place to end it. Otherwise I'd have wanted to keep going 'til the whole ordeal was over, and it wouldn't be fair to make you read all _that _in one sitting.**

**In other news, I noticed a couple of people added this story to their Story Alerts. One such incident happened chapters ago, but let's not dwell on that, shall we? Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks without calling anyone out. =]**

**Soooo, let's see, what should this chapter's random fact be?**

**Got it! Random Fact #8: **Rita's leaf on the top of her head is slightly longer than her body.


	9. Chapter 2, Part 2: NOW LOADING

Chatot blinked. "Apprentices? You want to be apprentices?"

"Well, yes…I did ask that." As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I had a strong urge to smack my hand, um, paw, over my face. _Oops. That could be taken as an insult. Darn you, internal filtering system…._

Thankfully, Chatot wasn't paying attention to my comment. "It's rare to see kids like you looking to apprentice at the guild," he commented thoughtfully, "especially given our rigorous training. Plenty of Pokémon run from our program within a few days, at most a week." I think at this point he was talking to himself rather than to us. "Are you sure?"

I wanted to point out that we wouldn't be there if we weren't, but in the interest of not being rude and/or insulting, what came out instead was "Of course!" Even better, my internal filtering system didn't betray me again.

"Um…M-Mister Chatot…is the t-t-t-training rrrreally…_that_ hhhard?" Rita asked quietly. The anxiety she was feeling was reflected in her expression as clear as day. Guess the euphoria had officially worn off.

Chatot clearly noticed too. "Oh, no, no, no! Not at all! If you stay on your toes and prepare yourself, it's as easy as counting to three!" he assured her, though I noticed the less than convincing expression on his face. Rita, however, seemed to be sufficiently reassured by his words. In any case, she'd stopped hyperventilating. "I do wish you had told me from the beginning that this was your intention! I would not have tried to banish you!" He chuckled to himself. _Oh lord…he's one of those weird people who irritate and disturb you in equal measures, isn't he…?_

"Come, come! This way!" he exclaimed and fluttered over to the ladder before descending to an even lower floor. Rita and I exchanged looks and followed behind him. He led us to what he stated were the guildmaster's quarters, where we were to register as a team. Along the way, he mentioned that this floor was where we, as apprentices, would be living. The guildmaster's quarters were quite noticeable, as the door was painted a brilliant pink. We stopped in front of said door. "Now, Chikorita, Skitty—"

I interrupted him. "Actually, our names are—"

"Aah! P-p-please d-d-d-don't mind her, Ch-Chatot," Rita interrupted hastily, shoving her leaf in front of my mouth and blushing with embarrassment. I let out an indignant squeak. "Sh-she's nnnnot from…around hhhhere…."

Chatot nodded. "Understandable."

"What was that for?" I hissed to Rita, pushing away her leaf as Chatot started on a tangent about the unquestionable greatness of this "guildmaster," whoever he or she was. "We have names!"

"_You don't understand, Kai_," Rita whispered back, her stutter retreating. It was kind of cool how when she whispered it went away. "_It's polite to call each Pokémon by the name of their species until you get to know them. You're supposed to wait until one of you tells the other your name….That's why I stopped you_."

"Oh. Really?" I asked curiously. "But when we met, you introduced yourself by your name." I quickly glanced up at Chatot to make sure he hadn't noticed us talking. He was facing a window while he talked and was gesturing to it. I have no idea why a window was so significant that he had to point it out, but he was probably something like "This window here is the sacred guildmaster's sacred window. Behold its sacred-ness!" You know, with holy light shining down upon it, Chatot's wings held up in prayer, and playing that tradtional holy-object tune they use in TV shows? I pictured that and snickered and tried not to let anyone notice. I'm so easily amused.

Rita smiled sheepishly and looked down at her feet. "_U-um…ah…you were nice to me_," she admitted. That was all she said. It confused me a bit; I wasn't going particularly out of my way to be nice to her earlier, so how exactly was I distinguished from anyone else?

"Uh…do I have to call you Chikorita now?" I asked uncertainly.

"_No….Not unless you don't want to…._" I shook my head to indicate that wasn't the case. "_But the Pokémon here—if they let us…join…_," she added even more quietly, looking anxious again. "_Um, they'll call me Chikorita and you'll be called Skitty_."

"—surprisingly young to make such a decision," Chatot was babbling on when we finally turned our attention to the closing of the long oration he was giving us. Which paying attention to made me think of the sacred window image again and forced me to bite the side of my mouth in order not to laugh. "Well, in any case, I'll show you in now. But mind you, Guildmaster Wigglytuff is a very accomplished Pokémon. On no accounts are you to be disrespectful to him."

"Yessir," I replied, and Rita nodded. Chatot, at last, tapped on the cheerfully pink door and let the guildmaster know we were here. While he was busy announcing our presence, Rita and I exchanged nervous glances. For Rita's sake, I hoped this would go well. I was just here because I was curious and could at least be useful here. Maybe I'd find something out about my past here, too. It was unlikely, but it was better than doing nothing.

Once he had gained us entrance, Chatot quickly ushered us inside. The guildmaster's quarters were quite spacious, with flowers blooming here and there and a grand treasure chest off to the side. The guildmaster himself was sitting on a blanket spread at the back of the room. He was facing the opposite direction. Was that a good or bad sign? Rita and I fidgeted nervously as Chatot announced, "Guildmaster, I have with me two young Pokémon, Chikorita and Skitty, who wish to join our guild as apprentices and form an exploration team." There was absolutely no response. "Guildmaster…," Chatot prompted. "Um…Guildmaster?" Again, there was absolutely no visible sign that he had heard Chatot.

Suddenly, in a split second, the Wigglytuff had flopped onto his back, craning his neck upwards to look at us with huge, wide eyes. "Hiya!" he exclaimed loudly. The sudden movement and shout caused Rita to leap back in alarm with a shriek. My jump was only slightly less obvious. "I'm Wigglytuff!" he went on, rolling over onto his stomach and then getting to his feet as he spoke. "I'm the guildmaster! You want to form an exploration team, right?"

"W-well, yeah," I replied, watching the guildmaster uncertainly. He was…unusual.

"Well, that's really fastastic-ariffic!" Wigglytuff clapped his paws together. "So, well, let me see….First you'll need a name, of course!"

"A name?" I repeated with surprise, but quickly shut up. Giving evidence to the fact that I had no idea what I was doing was probably not a good idea. Chatot was already giving me a strange look.

"Um…w-…w-we, um…d-d-d-didn't d-decide on a nnname yet…," Rita quickly covered for me. Chatot sighed and rolled his eyes.

Wigglytuff, on the other hand, appeared not to care how prepared (or in this case, unprepared) we were. "That's okay! We can wait!" he trilled happily. "Names need lots and lots of thought so they can turn out really, really good!"

"We need a name?" I asked under my breath, turning towards her.

"_I'm sorry…I forgot_," she whispered back apologetically. "_I've got an idea, though_." She whispered it more quietly. "_…What do you think?_"

"Oh! I get it—flowers are plants and you're a grass type, and it's a pink flower because my fur is pink. That's really clever!" I grinned. "Let's do that!" I turned to the two leaders, who were waiting for us to finish up. "Team Aster! That'll be our name!"

Wigglytuff smiled. "That's a good name! I'll register you now." To our bewilderment, Wigglytuff sat down and began to meditate. "Registering! Registering!" he sang repeatedly, twitching his long ears.

Rita and I glanced at each other. Neither of us was sure how to respond to this. "…W-what's he d-d-doing?" Rita asked, watching Wigglytuff with extreme concern. _Congrats, Wigglytuff—even _I _haven't managed to freak her out that much…yet._

"Uh…I have no idea," I replied, and I couldn't really blame her for being disturbed because it was kind of making me concerned, too.

Chatot, on the other hand—paw—wing—other such appendage—oh, whatever! I'm not using these stupid idioms again. They don't work for Pokémon. _Anyway_, Chatot watched this almost uninterestedly, as though this was nothing out of the ordinary. Which does not bode well for our mental health.

After a minute of this dragging on, at which point Rita and I were getting _very _worried, Wigglytuff announced, "All registered! YOOM-TAH!" A huge flash of light lit up the room. I guess Wigglytuff knew Flash and enjoyed demonstrating it…but then again, that was one _weird _Flash….Maybe I was better off not questioning it. Or anything else about this strange, _strange _proceedure. Wigglytuff grinned, exclaiming, "Congratulations! You're now an official exploration team within this guild!"

"A-already?" Rita asked, surprised. Despite the fact that after witnessing all this weirdness so far we really should have expected it, we were both a little surprised that the entire process had only consisted of giving ourselves a name and watching Wigglytuff go into a trance and do some bizarre explosion-of-light thing.

"What about the training?" I asked, confused. "Aren't we supposed to train first before we're all official and stuff?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. You may be a team already, but you'll be training here for years!" Chatot chuckled.

"Greaaaat," I muttered. "Years of training. Sounds _thrilling_."

Wigglytuff, meanwhile, was still talking. "—and in honor of this event, I have a gift for you!" He rummaged in the huge chest in the corner of his room and set a smaller box in front of us. Then he went and settled back onto his blanket. "It's a Pokémon Exploration Team Kit. It has everything you'll need inside."

"Thhhhis is r-really…all f-for us?" Rita asked shyly. Wigglytuff gave us an enthusiastic _yes_, and even Chatot graced us with a curt nod. "Tha—thank you!" She looked at me and gestured to the box. I decided that meant she wanted to open it. I nodded, and we scrambled over to the chest and prized open the lid. The contents completely filled the box.

"Look at this stuff!" I exclaimed. I pulled out two circular, winged items. The white circular part looked rather like a Pokéball, with the seam engraved into it and a large pink circle symbolizing the release button. (Or, well, "Pokéball" is the word that popped into my head when I was looking at it much later on.) "There's two…um…well, actually, I don't know what these are."

"Those are explorer badges, which you must have with you at all times," Chatot explained. "They serve as your identification as an exploration team. They are also what allow you to successfully rescue Pokémon from mystery dungeons, and escape from them yourselves."

"Oh, okay…." I moved one next to me and slid the other one over towards Rita. "Here's yours, Rita."

"Th-thanks." Rita pulled out a scroll of paper and unrolled it. "Oh…a map!"

I examined it myself. "Cool, it can replace the one I lost! Ooh, look, it even has a little tiny Chikorita and a Skitty on it showing where we are! That's pretty cool." I frowned. "But why does it have all these clouds over most of it?"

Chatot came to the rescue once again. "The wonder map is enchanted to reveal more of the world as its original owners—the first Pokémon or team that touches it, which would be you two—travel around and explore. The clouds will fade away once you reach those hidden areas."

"Having a map that shows you where everything is just ruins the fun of exploring!" Wigglytuff said with a laugh. That was kind of true, I figured.

"Hey, Rita, there's a bag like yours in here, too!" I emerged from the chest with a brown over-the-shoulder bag rather like Rita's, though hers was worn and older-looking. Rita's also had a pin on the flap that looked a lot like an explorer badge; now that I knew what one was I could make the connection.

Rita's eyes lit up. "It's a…llllot b-bigger, t-t-too….I b-bet it holds…mmmmore than mmmine does." She slipped her own bag off and set it next to the new one. The pouch of the new bag was definitely larger than Rita's.

Chatot peered curiously at Rita's bag. "Chikorita, where on earth did you get that bag?" Rita looked up, her expression strangely blank. Chatot was frowning. "These are old bags from quite some years ago. I must know where you obtained it from." Wigglytuff looked on curiously as Chatot extended a wing. "Please hand it over."

"I-i-it's mmmmine!" Rita stammered, quickly snatching it up. "I d-d-d-d-didn't ssssteal it from—from a-a-anyone! Rrrrea-really, I d-d-didn't!"

Wigglytuff relaxed. "Well, she said she didn't take it, Chatot," he said cheerfully. "That settles it!"

"But…Guildmaster…she could be lying!" Chatot said indignantly, withdrawing his extended wing. Rita glanced at him helplessly before ducking her head. _What does she have to be ashamed of? _I wondered, glaring at Chatot. _It's Chatot who's making a scene, not her. _"We must confiscate that bag and begin a full investigation!"

"That doesn't sound very fair," I protested. This comment earned me a venomous glare. _Yikes_.

Ignoring Chatot's protests, Wigglytuff went on, "All those are yours to keep…including your old bag," he added pointedly. "They'll really help you in your training!"

"Thhh-…thank you," Rita said quietly, still avoiding everyone's gazes. Clearly she was still upset over Chatot's accusations.

"Yeah, thank you, Guildmaster!" I added my own thanks, sending glances over at Rita every so often. "We'll do our best!"

"Yup, I'm sure you will!" Wigglytuff nodded to Chatot, who, judging by his sullen expression, was still annoyed by Wigglytuff putting a stop to his interrogation. "Show them where they will be sleeping from now on, won't you, Chatot?"

"If you insist," Chatot said. He cast a suspicious glance over at Rita, who must have somehow sensed this and ducked her head even lower and kept her gaze fixed on the floor. Wigglytuff laughed, blissfully unaware of the increasing tension, and waved goodbye as we exited his private quarters.

Excited talking alerted us to the fact that others in the guild were beginning to notice our arrival. I nudged Rita, whispering, "Look—these must be the other apprentices, like us!" Rita, however, didn't look up; her face was still a smoldering red. _Stupid Chatot. He doesn't know what he's talking about_, I silently raged. I could't stand for unfair treatment. At least Wigglytuff had gotten Chatot to lay off on her.

"You two, follow me." Chatot turned left and led us down a long hallway, where a couple more heads popped out from two openings in the walls. I assumed these must be bedrooms. However, Chatot proceeded right past these two rooms and led us to the furthest room right off the end of the hallway. It was cozily snug, with a window overlooking the shore and three nest-like structures that I assumed were our beds. "As you two have already formed a team and both of you are female, you may share this room together. For now it is only you two in here, but I cannot guarantee that this dormitory will not be further filled."

"Thank you, Chatot!" I exclaimed. I might be mad, but it wouldn't do anyone any favors to show it. Besides, this room was kind of neat. Small, but since I figured we wouldn't be using it for much other than sleeping, it suited me fine. I scrambled onto the bed furthest from the door and found it rather comfy. "This room is great."

Chatot dipped his head in acknowledgement of my gratitude, but it was stiff. He wasn't doing as well a job of letting go of the previous events as I was. Being so ready to forgive could be seen as one of my faults, but it was kind of useful, too. It was an effort sometimes, like now, but I didn't make enemies that way. Second chances were generally welcomed. "You may decorate your room as you want, but it must be easily removable. Nothing permanent. Curfew is after dinner, which is just after sunset. You must return to the dormitories at that point. You may do as you please within your room. You may also travel between the dormitories if you so desire, to speak with the other apprentices. However, after the Guildmaster and I put out the torches, you must return to your own room. We also have a rule prohibiting talking after that point. Is that clear?"

"Yes," I replied sulkily. _So many rules! This isn't going to be any fun._

Chatot nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now, you were lucky enough to gain entrance right before we dismissed the sentries for dinner, but I would assume the meal is long over by now. The best thing for you to do right now is sleep. Your training begins early tomorrow morning and you don't want to be tired."

Chatot made to turn around and leave our room, but Rita was still standing in the doorway. "Uh…Ch-Chatot…mmmmay I ssspeak w-…with you…o-…o-…outside?" The colorful bird made no verbal response but nodded curtly. _What could Rita have to say that she won't tell me?_ I wondered. She glanced up at me apologetically. "I…I'll b-be b-b-back…." She and Chatot hurried from the room. Maybe she was asking Chatot to get someone to tell her parents that she joined the guild she so wanted to? We _did_ come right here after our adventure in the caves. They'll be wondering where she is, since I think she lives around here. I don't think she specifically mentioned it, but she said something about the Pokémon around here not liking her much, which means they must see her often enough to recognize her.

I sighed. Considering there wasn't much else to do in the room now that Rita had left for her chat with Chatot, I may as well do as Chatot suggested and get an early start on my sleep. Assuming, that is, that I could find a comfortable position to lie now that I was four-legged. I shifted around for quite a while until I finally kneaded a depression in the bed and settled within it. Of course, rather unlike a Skitty, I was spread-eagled on my back. I refused to sleep on my stomach or either one of my sides; I just didn't find it comfortable. Probably a habit from when I had been a human. Was it sad that I wasn't sure?

_I wish I knew who I was and where I came from…._

A voice woke me up from my sleep. I was utterly bewildered, knowing that the voice seemed familiar, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you who it was. "Oh….A-are you…awake?" Oh, yeah. Beach. Relic Fragment. Guild. Rita.

"Huh?…'M awake now," I replied groggily, but didn't move a muscle, not even to open my eyes.

"…I'm sss-sorry. I didn't mmm-…mmmean to w-wake you up." I wasn't looking at her, but I could tell she was genuinely apologetic. And probably blushing…again. "…W-…we-…were you ssssssleeping lllike that? Thhhhat's an o-odd p-p-position for P-Pokémon like us." I guess she meant the whole four legs aspect. I didn't answer. After a while, Rita quietly told me, "…I-I was…rrrrreally s-ssscared j-joining up t-today…but nnnnow that I've f-fixed things with Ch-Chatot…e-everything sssseems…o-okay."

"Did'ja get in trouble about the bag?" I asked, curious.

Rita shifted around in her bed. "Nnno…." I waited for her to explain further, but she changed the subject. "…T-t-tomorrow isss our f-first day of t-t-t-training. I'm rrr-really…nnnnervous…." She was silent for a minute. "A-…are you nnnnervous about…tomorrow?"

I felt a twinge in my stomach at the thought of our impending introduction to the rest of the guild. "Y-yeah…maybe….

"W-w-well…at lllleast I'm nnnnot the o-…only one…." I opened my eyes a little and saw her lying down in her bed, her head lying on her forelegs.

More awake now, I hesitated before speaking up. "Hey, Rita? I have a question."

"Y-yeah?"

"Where are your parents?"

Rita turned to look at me with a strange expression on her face. "…W-why d-d-do you…a-ask?"

"Well, I thought maybe you had asked Chatot to let them know that you joined the guild, since we came right here and didn't stop by wherever you live," I admitted. "I guess I'm just curious."

"U-um…." Rita sighed heavily. "W-well…I nnnnever knew mmmy f-father. Mmmy p-parents—w-well, mmmy dad…hhhe d-didn't…w-want kids. I hhhheard it ended…rrrreally badly. He llleft…b-before mmmy egg h-hatched. I've nnnever…even mmmet him."

"I'm sorry," I apologized quietly. "Where's your mom, then?"

She hesitated. "…Thhhhat sss-story I t-told you earlier…a-about my Rrrrelic Fragment?"

"Yeah?"

Rita turned her face away. "Th-that was the llllast time I s-saw her….She v-vanished."

…_Well, darn._ I shut my eyes. "I'm sorry," I apologized again.

"W-why are…_you_ sssssorry?" she asked curiously.

"It's mostly what I say to express sympathy," I admitted sheepishly. "But I also feel really bad for bringing this up…."

Rita shrugged. "I-it happened y-years ago….B-besides, I nnnnever mmmet my dad, sssso I c-can't…mmmm_miss_ him…." She sighed. "…I d-d-don't even knnnnow him…."

There was nothing I could say to that without feeling insensitive, so I didn't respond. _So…, _I thought to myself. _Rita's father left her mother because he hadn't wanted kids. Hadn't wanted _her_. That's so _sad_. It kind of makes me mad, too, but in the end it might have been worse if he stuck around when he didn't want to. And then her mom disappeared. I feel like I don't know the whole story…but knowing that Rita's dad left because her mom had her egg….If it were me all that happened to, I think it would be easy for me to think that my mom disappearing was because she didn't want me anymore either. And I'd probably think it was something about _me_ that was making everyone important to me leave. With a past like that, it doesn't surprise me that Rita's as down on herself as she is._ _Not a good thing, but I can see how it could happen…._

I have a thing for wishes. I love making wishes, and I think that if you make a wish when something begins or ends, it has a better chance of coming true. Like birthdays, when you start a new year of school or when the old one ends, joining or leaving a group, moving out of one house and into a new one…things like that. Some people believe in horoscopes, or aliens, or things like that, and I believe in wishes. It's _not_ weird for an almost full-grown person/Pokémon like me to make wishes like a little kid, okay? I'm not under the delusion that a fairy-Pokémon godmother will descend from the sky and grant all my heart's desires just like that. I'm not that gullible. I just think that making wishes at those certain points makes them a way of working out sometimes. Okay? Okay. Glad we've got that straightened out.

So…right now, since I was in a _new_ body in a _new_ place and joining this _new_ group with a _new_ friend, this ought to be a good opportunity. I wished everything would turn out all right. If this place wasn't what we expected, I think Rita would be crushed. And despite knowing her for mere hours, I would be sad if Rita were to be devastated. I figure she's plenty sad enough without that.

The selfish part of me that I didn't particularly enjoy wanted to use my super-powerful wish on becoming human again and getting my memories back…not because I particularly _preferred_ being human, I realized, because I couldn't remember being human. I just sort of knew that's what I was supposed to be. It felt odd to be a Pokémon, but it wasn't _too_ bad. It's just that something about all this felt…_wrong_. Like…like I _needed_ to be human, for some reason, and it was really important. Of course, I didn't realize I was even thinking any of this until I was actually working through my thoughts now….

Rita sighed heavily, deciding that I must have gone to sleep. "G-good night, Kai," I heard Rita whisper, and I let myself slip off into dreams of what our first day as apprentices would hold.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Review-replying time!**

Emiri-Chu**: Glad you're enjoying the story, my random facts, and the Transformers reference. I couldn't resist putting it in there! XP**

HikariNoTenshi-San**: I think Chatot irritates everyone. XD Poor old Chatot. But if he's irritating you, I must be doing my job right. Haha!**

**So their team is called Team Aster. I'm sure it came as a big shock to you, you know, because of the title and all. In case you're not aware, an aster is a flower which can be the color pink. As Kai pointed out, the pinkness goes with her, because she's pink, and the plant...ness...goes with Rita, because she's a grass type. I wanted the pink flower theme for the team name, but I picked Team Aster because it sounded cooler than my other options. No one would take you seriously if you said things like "We're Team Carnation!" or "Team Chrystanthemum is here to rescue you!"**

**Everyone enjoy Rita's lovely little situation there? Poor Rita, so desperate to have a friend and equally desperate to keep herself and her secrets all locked up. She keeps everyone in the dark until she's asked a direct question about something, at which point the Great Wall of Rita comes tumbling down. (Heh, I'm _totally _refering to Rita's stonewalling as "The Great Wall of Rita" from now on. XD) I can see this whole sudden-very-important-announcement thing becoming a trend with her, too. Poor, poor Kai. She'll never be able to rest easy, always on the watch for the next bomb to drop:**

**Rita: **Kai, my mom didn't really vanish. We're really a family of top-secret investigators and that's our cover story!  
**Kai: **..._Whaaaat_?

**Rita: **Kai, I am a prodigy and learned Hyper Beam at birth! -shoots beam of light from mouth-  
**Kai: **...Oh Arceus, _**PLEASE **_save me from these people...

**Rita: **Kai, Wigglytuff is my father! :D :D :D  
**Wigglytuff: **:D :D :D  
**Kai:** *facepalm*

**And now we are moving on from that randomness onto new randomness! -big grin- Random Fact #9: **Rita's mother is a Meganium (obviously, since Rita's a Chikorita), but her father is not! (And it's not Wigglytuff, as amusing as that would be. Sorry.)


	10. Chapter 2, Part 3: The First Mission

"_**HEY! WAKE UP! LET'S GO, EVERYBODY; WE'RE BURNING DAYLIGHT HERE!**_"

"WAAAAH!" With a loud thump I literally flung myself off the bed and onto the floor, where I crouched with my face against the ground and my front paws over my ears. Yup, I was _tooootally_ giving the others at the guild a good first impression. "Oh please…make it stop!" I pleaded with whatever deities were out there. "The paaaaaain!"

Unfortunately, the voice did not stop shouting. "_**WAKE UP! IT'S MORNING! UP AND AT 'EM!**_" Various calls along those lines echoed throughout the corridor until the voice reached its loudest yet. "_**WAKE**_—who are _YOU_ two?…And what are you DOING?"

I peered out from under my paws to find a Loudred standing in our doorway, looking dumbfounded. Clearly we had found the source of the deafening wake-up call. Rita, unlike myself, was still in bed but appeared to be in shock and was struggling to reply. I shakily answered, "I'm sheltering from the, um, the noise."

"…Oh," was Loudred's eloquent reply. There was an awkwardly long pause. "Well, I'm LOUDRED, and I'm a fellow apprentice. Now, get your BUTTS in gear and head OUT to the main hall. The morning briefing is going to START in a MOMENT, and if you _**AREN'T**_ out there, then you'll be _**SORRY**_!" We jumped violently at the sudden shout. "_So __**GET MOVING**_!" He stalked out of the room, but thankfully ceased calling out.

"Aah…." Rita shook her head forcefully to clear it of the last echoes of Loudred's _unique_ voice. "Mmmy ears h-hurt…."

"You're not the one with super sensitive hearing!" I complained irritably, carefully massaging my ears.

She blinked and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "D-did you c-catch w-…what hhhe w-was ssssaying?"

"Something about a 'morning briefing'…," I muttered in reply.

It hit us almost simultaneously. "We signed up as apprentices at Wigglytuff's Guild!" I exclaimed as Rita let out a squeak of realization. "And we're going to be late!"

Both of us jumped up and ran around the room like headless Torchic. It took longer than we anticipated getting ourselves ready, since Rita was still half in shock because of the Loudred incident and I had to fix my fur from my undignified attempt to shove my face through the floor. And may I point out that licking your fur is an _extremely_ _weird_ experience for someone who was human up until now. Just think how awkward it was going to be when it's time to actually, well, wash myself—ack, _bad thoughts, __**bad**__ thoughts…!_ Oh, Arceus, never mind! I decided I was going to launch myself in a river or something every day. Anyway, it takes a long time to fix messy fur if you've never done it before. No wonder little Pokémon with fur have their mothers do it for them, because this is hard work!

By the time we finally scrambled out into the main hall Chatot was addressing the group. "—and as I have told you, I expect you to be courteous to and respectful of our new apprentices. They might be young, but that does not make them inferior to you or qualify them as something to vent your frustrations on. They are your comrades, and I expect you all to—oh, here they are now."

Ten heads, plus Chatot, turned in our direction to see us awkwardly hovering in the doorway. I smiled self-consciously, and Rita just stood there looking horrified that she was shoved into the spotlight. Most faces looked excited and approving (and also grateful because Chatot had stopped talking), but others were sizing us up and clearly doubting our capabilities.

"Oh my gosh, they're simply precious! How adorable!"

"Are they tough enough to make it here? They're absolutely tiny, and they look half scared to death already…."

"Come on, guys. The Guildmaster wouldn't have allowed them to join if he thought they couldn't handle it. He must think they're ready."

"More girls? Ugh!"

"Hey, hey! There are more boys than girls here already. Two more won't hurt."

"They _are_ both tiny, aren't they? Younger than we are. They're so _cute_!"

"Hush, hush," Chatot scolded. The noise quickly died down, but one or two whispers made their way from Pokémon to Pokémon. "Everyone, these are Skitty and Chikorita." I waved my tail; Rita merely ducked her head shyly. "They have already registered as an exploration team, which is called Team Aster. They will be joining us in training from this point onward. I expect you all to show them how things work around here, understood?"

"Yes, Chatot," the guild chorused in sing-song voices. I could have sworn I saw a few of them roll their eyes as well.

"Good," Chatot responded happily. "Now each of you ought to introduce him- or herself. We'll go from my right to my left, starting with the first row. Please state your name at the appropriate time." Chatot nodded to a red figure at the opposite end of the first row.

"I'm Charmander," the Charmander stated, giving us a crooked smile and an almost indifferent shrug. Surprisingly, she was female, just judging by her voice. It was low-pitched, but definitely a girl's voice. "Relax. You'll like it here."

"Croagunk," the frog Pokémon next to her announced very curtly.

"I'm Chimecho," the bell-like Pokémon next to him announced, smiling. "Welcome to the guild!"

There was a moment of silence. Chimecho nudged the Pokémon next to her, indicating that it was his turn. "Oof!" the brown Pokémon yelped, looking petrified as the others turned to look at him during the long pause. "Golly! I, um—I'm Bidoof."

The flower Pokémon next to Bidoof flailed her leaves excitedly. "I'm Sunflora! Oh my gosh, welcome!"

"I'm Pikachu!" the Electric Mouse Pokémon behind Charmander called out with a huge grin. Sparks literally jumped off his cheek pouches, he was so excited. Charmander glanced over her shoulder and rolled her eyes, smirking. "Me and Charmander here are Team Virtue," he added, flicking his ear at Charmander.

"Dugtrio," the Pokémon next to him announced. "We are pleased to meet you."

The red crawfish next to Dugtrio scuttled around excitedly. "Hey, hey! I'm Corphish!"

"I'm LOUDRED!" Rita and I flinched from the sudden assault on our ears. "We met already!"

"I, um, I'm Diglett." I recognized the voice as she quieter one that came from the grate we walked over to get into the guild. "Dugtrio's my dad. Welcome!"

Chatot fluttered his wings to get our attention. "Skitty, please stand beside Sunflora, and Chikorita, please line up behind Skitty next to Diglett. These will be your permanent positions at assemblies."

We quickly obliged, not wanting to press our luck after turning up late. Sunflora turned her head towards me and smiled broadly as I stepped into place. "Welcome to the guild!" she said to me in a carrying whisper, glancing over to Rita in order to include her in the greeting. "I simply love your team's name!"

Chatot looked over sharply. "Sunflora! This is no time for conversation. Pay attention."

Sunflora turned to face front and arranged her expression to look confused. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Chatot!" she replied innocently. Chatot just watched her sternly and, when Sunflora merely smiled, sighed heavily and shook his head, muttering about "newcomers stirring everyone up." I looked over my shoulder and exchanged a grin with Rita, who was already looking more relaxed.

"Now that everyone is present and _quiet_," Chatot added pointedly, "we may now continue with the morning address." He hopped over to the Guildmaster's quarters and tapped on the door. "Guildmaster! The guild is assembled!" We waited. The other apprentices had begun to whisper again before the guildmaster emerged, but the sight of him was enough to make the room fall into silence.

"Thank you, Guildmaster!" Chatot said. "Please address the crew before we leave for our daily duties."

Wigglytuff swayed on the spot, his head lolling just slightly. "Mmmm…nnngh…perfect apple…pancakes…yummmmmmy…!"

The majority of the group immediately dissolved into stifled giggles. "Look…he seems wide awake but he's fast asleep!" Chimecho chuckled.

"He's sleepwalking and sleep-talking at the same time!" Sunflora added with a not so subtle snort of laughter.

"Are they making fun of him?" I whispered to Rita without looking away from Wigglytuff.

"…Nnnnno…I-I thhhink they're just a-amused." Both Rita and I watched as Wigglytuff sunk slowly to the ground, drooling, and Chatot frantically tried to wake him up to no avail. This was all done to a new chorus of half choking, half laughter from the apprentices. "It _is_ p-p-pretty f-funny." She quietly giggled along with them.

Chatot had given up on waking up the Guildmaster and was evidently intent on playing off the incident as if Wigglytuff were perfectly lucid. "Thank you, Guildmaster, for that…inspiring declaration."

The Guildmaster let out a loud snore, followed by a wild gesture towards a wall and the declaration, "Be quiet, Chatot….The Budew are sleeping!"

Chatot's expression was priceless. He looked very embarrassed before masking it with a look normally only appropriate when sitting at the bedside of someone very sick. All of us laughed and tried to pass it off as unplanned, simultaneous coughing. "Is everything all right there?" he asked, concerned when we all began "coughing."

"Um, yeah, it's just…dust," Diglett replied while Sunflora, picking up on the cue, very unconvincingly flailed her leaves through the air to dispel the "dust."

Chatot stared for a while before he finally just sighed. "I'm just going to forget any of this ever happened," he muttered, bowing his head and closing his eyes in exasperation. _Heh. Irritating Chatot turns out to be extremely amusing_, I thought, grinning to myself.

After another short wait while Chatot composed himself and Wigglytuff continued to sleep with his eyes open in the background, Chatot finally picked his head up and announced, "Now, Pokémon, let's not forget the morning cheers before you are dismissed!" At the words "morning cheers" were said, the guild suddenly straightened up and gave Chatot their full attention, smiling happily. I tilted my head, confused. Morning cheers? What about them was making everyone so excited?

Chatot extended a wing as if he were a conductor and began to move it in time. "A one, and a two, and a one-two-three!"

"_ONE!_" the apprentices shouted eagerly, their voices in perfect rhythm. "_DON'T SHIRK WORK!_"

Rita and I exchanged a glance and smiled; this did seem a little fun. In the meantime, Wigglytuff was finally woken up by the cheers. He jumped to his feet and began to join in.

"_TWO! RUN AWAY AND PAY!_" Loudred's voice was notably louder than the rest and could probably shatter glass, but no one seemed to mind. They were chanting along quite cheerfully. "_THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!_"

"Okay, Pokémon! Time to get to work!" Further instruction was prevented as we all cheered excitedly. Even I joined in, happy to be accepted into the bunch and as equally energized by the cheer as they were. Chatot continued once the ruckus had died down. "Diglett, Dugtrio, Loudred, and Chimecho, you are to report to your usual duties. The rest of you are to take jobs from the bulletin boards upstairs! Oh, except for the newcomers; you two stay here. Dismissed!"

Another excited cheer rose up from the assembled group, but Rita and I did not join in this time. Staying behind? This could be a bad sign. The rest of the guild scattered, calling "good morning" to the Guildmaster and "welcome" to us as they went, and Chatot wandered a short distance away to speak to Chimecho about something, but we stayed in place. Wigglytuff waved to the other apprentices before noticing us. "Oh! My newest friendly friends!" he trilled happily. "How was your first night here?"

"G- good…thhhhank you," Rita replied with a shy smile, stepping a bit closer behind me. _Is she hiding? _"…How…how was yyyour nnnight, G-Guildmaster?"

"Excellent!" he exclaimed with a laugh that seemed to be triggered by pure glee. "I had such good dreams as well! So wonderfully wonderful and…perfect! Hm…'perfect'…you know, I could really go for a perfect apple right about now!" He looked around and skipped off towards wherever you get food from in this place.

Chatot returned with not a moment to spare. "Ah. Here you two are. Come along now." He started off towards the stairs. Rita and I hesitated, and noticing it, Chatot paused. "There's no need to look so frightened," he chuckled when he turned to face us. "I'm only giving you a tour. Since you have never been inside the guild before last evening, I assumed you would like to know where to pick out jobs and such."

"Oh!" I exclaimed, and both Rita and I visibly relaxed. "Okay. We thought we might be in trouble for being late, so…."

"Well, as it's only your first day, I hardly expected you to be completely faultless," Chatot explained patiently. "I will let you off this once. Be sure not to make a habit of it. The meeting begins promptly five minutes after the wake-up call, and I expect you to be present at any and all assemblies."

Rita nodded silently. "Of course," I assured him.

"Very good. Now, follow me." Chatot led the way to the ladder leading to the next floor. Rita and I quickly followed. He led us to the above floor and, weaving in between various exploration teams, stopped in front of a bulletin board at one side of the room. "This," he declared, tapping the board with a wing for emphasis, "is the job bulletin board. Pokémon from many different places post notices requesting help with one thing or another." He lowered his wing. "I assume you are aware that crime-committing Pokémon are cropping up in greater numbers?"

"…Yyyyes," Rita shyly replied, and even added more, to my surprise. "It's b-because the f-…flow of time is d-d-d-disrupted…rrrright? It's thhhhrowing ev-everything off b-balance…." Rita glanced at me pointedly. I was confused for a minute, and then it clicked. _Oh! Was she doing it for me? So I'd know?_

"Indeed it is," Chatot agreed, clearly impressed. "The correlation between time's disruption in some areas and the increase in evildoing Pokémon cannot be denied. In addition to that, mystery dungeons have been appearing in various places." He glanced between Rita and me. "Are either of you unfamiliar with the concept of mystery dungeons?"

Rita didn't say anything and just looked over at me this time. It'd be kind of weird if Rita just randomly blurted out everything she knew in response to a yes or no question, so she was letting me answer for both of us. "I could…use a refresher." Which was a lie of omission, because I had absolutely no idea how these things work, but again, playing it off as if I had merely forgotten rather than saying "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about" seemed the more prudent option.

Chatot nodded. "Chikorita, since you seem to be quite familiar with geographical information, why don't you explain?" he prompted.

"Ah…um—w-…well…." Rita blushed, unprepared for being put on the spot, but she began to explain in great detail. "Um, y-you know what a mmmystery d-d-dungeon is, Kai….I ex-explained them a llllittle bit y-yesterday…um….I t-t-t-told you that the lll-layout and the items inside ch-change every t-t-time you e-enter it. If you get knnnocked out in a d-dungeon, you'll get sssstuck i-inside it…u-unless y-you have an e-explorer badge, w-which w-…wa-…warps you o-outside. A-all your m-money and a b-bunch of your items will be g-g-gone t-t-too. B-but they're f-fun to e-explore ssssince they're always ch-changing. It's amm_mazing_ what you can f-find in there, if y-you look hhhhard enough," Rita exclaimed, her eyes shining. Her radiant joy was contagious; I couldn't help but smile. I hoped we would get our first job soon.

"Well, well! That's an impressive amount of knowledge you have there," Chatot said. Rita blushed even more deeply, murmuring her thanks. "Most of the jobs we have listed here at the guild take place in various mystery dungeons," Chatot informed us. "Once a job is completed by a team or individual, word is sent out to the client so that that Pokémon is able to meet the team or individual whenever possible." He paused to let this information sink in. "Now…why don't we find a job that is suited for your level of skill?"

"Yes, please!" I exclaimed eagerly.

Chatot rifled though the overlapping flyers pinned onto the corkboard. Flipping through them with remarkable speed, only a minute later he let out a peculiar "hm!" that Rita and I took to mean that he had found something. Sure enough, he emerged with a flyer clutched in his beak. He set it down in front and between us. "Why don't you take a look at this one? I'm sure you two can handle it."

Rita and I exchanged twin looks of excitement. We stared down at the message on the flyer, eager to see what our first task as guild members would be.

It turned out to be written in footprint runes, which I could not read. Of course.

"Um...Rita?" I whispered. "I can't read this..."

Rita glanced at me sideways and nodded, showing that she'd heard me. She looked over the message, which read like so:

_Hello, my dear reader of this message! I am Spoink. I am in a state of terrible distress. Only a few days ago, I lost my most precious belonging—the pearl that proudly sits atop my head! I had felt it wobbling but thought nothing of its looseness until it rolled right down my back and down the road. I chased after it, but it rolled and rolled and rolled—right out of Treasure Town! My pearl is all I truly prize in life. I just cannot relax without it, and I feel awfully unbalanced without it there. Thankfully, I have heard news that someone has seen an object that they believe may be my pearl! This Pokémon told me he had seen it in Drenched Bluff, but I know that it is a dangerous place—certainly too dangerous for me! I beg of you—would you be so kind as to go to Drenched Bluff and retrieve it for me? I am willing to offer a generous reward to the Pokémon who returns my pearl. Sincerely, Spoink. _Following that was a list of directions to the dungeon.

"W-we're...ssssupposed t-to...g-g-go to D-Drenched Bluff and...f-find a Sssssspoink's p-p-pearl...," Rita said out loud as if she were talking to herself. She was really telling me, but Chatot was listening; even if I'd managed to seem normal so far, needing to be told what a flyer said was just _not_.

"Wait, wait wait! We're only supposed to fetch a stupid _pearl_ for a careless Spoink?" I asked indignantly. I was kind of offended that Chatot thought us capable of only such a simple, almost mindless task such as this. Did he think we were little kids or something?

Rita frowned, just as unhappy with this job as I was. "…I th-thought we were g-going to do ssssomething that's…we-well…m-more like an…adventure," she complained, but yet somehow she still managed to sound obedient and unchallenging. It was kind of awesome. I really wanted to learn that trick.

"Now don't you start!" Rita and I nearly jumped out of our skins at the angry squawk that came from Chatot's mouth. He was scowling. "You're just rookies. Did you really expect to be treasure hunting and rescuing those in need without ever having learned the very basic skills necessary for said objectives?"

"Um…no?" I said awkwardly, flattening my ears against my head guiltily. Rita turned crimson and looked completely ashamed of herself. "I don't think we thought of it that way…."

Chatot was not quite finished scolding us. "I should think not, the way you two are behaving. I've never, in all my days, seen a more disrespectful pair of apprentices, not even _trying_ to disguise your disillusionment with the system and with my own skill at judging what a Pokémon is capable of. Why, I ought to put you two on kitchen duty for a week!" Letting the threat hang in the air, he stood there, clearly expecting us to think long and hard about what we had said.

"…We _were_ pretty disrespectful," I admitted at last, staring down at my toes.

Chatot gazed at us steadily. "It is for the good of the guild, as well as yourselves, that you work your way up from menial tasks to the true substance of an exploration team. You two are young for apprentices, and these missions are generally of a caliber suited for fully grown members. Even then, it takes lots and _lots_ of practice to be skilled enough to successfully complete even standard missions without getting injured or worse. Considering that you are going to a mystery dungeon where Pokémon are known to attack those who enter, you will be able to have quite enough of an adventure." He paused. "Do you understand all of this, or must I repeat myself?"

Rita nodded. "I-I understand," she squeaked out.

"Me, too," I added meekly.

"Good. Now, if you're quite finished complaining, you are dismissed. If you want to be sure you make it back before dinnertime, I suggest you quickly be on your way."

"Hmph…," I huffed irritably as Chatot flew off to the lower level. "I say he's lost his marbles. We already proved ourselves capable of all this when we got your relic fragment back." Which I only felt was half true—we hadn't proved ourselves to the guild yet, so this was fair—but it made me feel better to complain. I probably should stop, since Chatot was _not_ happy about complaining.

"…W-what's mmmmarbles?" Rita asked curiously.

"Huh?" I asked with surprise. "Oh, right, I guess you don't know. Marbles are little glass balls humans play games with sometimes. 'Lost his marbles' is just an expression meaning 'he's crazy.'" I blinked. _Huh, wonder where that knowledge came from._ "Do you think it's good that I remember that? I think that's a good sign."

"Y-yeah," Rita responded, her eyes lighting up. "B-but I d-d-don't know if…Chatot's 'llllost his marbles.' He d-d-doesn't knnnow that we w-went through B-Beach Cave," Rita said ruefully, her expression falling a bit. She sighed softly, inching towards the ladder, and looked over her shoulder at me. "Um…C-come on….W-we'd b-b-better get g-going."

* * *

**AN:/**

**Hi everybody! So...this site hasn't been very nice to me lately. I finally finish my mini-research paper for a picky professor and at last find the time to update, but what am I welcomed back with? An error message, same as everybody else. Finally I looked up a way to get around it (kudos to the people who figured it out), and here we are. This chapter is kind of uneventful, though, because nothing really happened, so sorry I have to reward your patience with just "OMG guild yay" nonsense. At least it's fun to torment Chatot.**

**Also, I've got to ask you to pardon the extreme form of randomness presented in the last author's note...I was suffering the head-fuzziness of not having eating all day when I wrote that, so it's kind of...out there. So if it struck you as amusing, then yay for me and I take all credit for it, but if it struck you as really, really weird...it's all the lack of food's fault.**

**So, reviews!**

HikariNoTenshi-San:** Ah, Rita's bag...I know where I'm going with that particular plot point, but unfortunately it doesn't come up again for a long time. Like...a reeeeeally long time. Rita's stashed it in some corner where Kai, being the airhead she often is, won't see it and therefore won't be reminded to ask about it. But all will be revealed in due time! Ugh, it feels lame to say that...it's supposed to make people feel better but it really doesn't help, does it?**

Melony: **Glad you like it so far! The game _is _pretty awesome. I play my PMD games all the time too! Actually, I started over my PMD:Darkness to use as a reference for this story, so I play while I'm writing. It's fun!**

**Okay, so, Random Fact #10: **Team Virtue (Charmander and Pikachu) was my very first team ever, way back on PMD: Blue Rescue Team! These guys are my loyal minions, sent to the guild to help with plot points. I have plans in mind and none of the original guild members struck me as having the personalities I'd need for that situation, which is why I stuck Team Virtue in this story. They're also our comic relief because they both like pranks, so expect strange things to happen...like friendly hazing, for example. Funny thing is, even though I always thought "Chamander=girl, Pikachu=boy," I never actually put them together, but now that I'm writing them I'm sensing chemistry here...HeroxPartner, anyone?


	11. Chapter 2, Part 4: The Pearl

It wasn't long after receiving our orders that Rita and I left Treasure Town behind en route for Drenched Bluff. We couldn't help getting excited once our disappointment wore off. After all, it was our _very_ _first_ mission—granted, it was almost pathetically simple, but it was our first mission all the same. It felt like an initiation rite, kind of.

We paused in a flowery meadow not far from the town to plan the best course to reach Drenched Bluff. Said dungeon was not labeled on our map, and the presumably enchanted cloud drawings were still covering everything on it except the area surrounding the guild, but Spoink's directions were sufficient enough to work out where it would be.

It didn't take long to figure out where it was; the challenging part was figuring out how to get there. Rita and I hovered over the map while I pointed to a spot to the east of Treasure Town. "So…we should be about here."

"Th-that…llllooks about rrr-right," Rita agreed shyly, peering closely at the area I was pointing to and then at our surroundings. "Yeah. Y-you c-can see the mmm-mountain n-next to us, and e-even a lllittle b-bit of the rrr-…river!" she exclaimed, waving her leaf in its direction. I looked over and saw that she was right. The mountain looked tiny from where we were, but up close it must have been _huge_! A river flowed down the mountainside and along the horizon, looking like a shiny navy blue ribbon.

"Wow…," I gasped, marveling over the sight. "I didn't think it'd be that big. That must be a _huuuge_ mountain, and a _reeeally_ big river, too! I sure hope we get to explore _there _someday!"

Rita nodded excitedly, standing on tiptoe to better see the looming mountain. "F-first w-we have to…finish thhhis m-mission, though," she added less happily, turning back to me.

I nodded; we did need to complete this mission before Chatot or the Guildmaster would even _consider_ sending us to explore a place like _that_. Anyway, a huge mountain and a big river probably required a lot more credentials than we had. I sighed and then turned back to the map. I rhythmically tapped one of my paws on our location, thinking hard about how and where we should travel to reach the bluff. "So, since the mountain's kind of ahead of us and to our left," I told Rita, "that must mean we're facing east, and we need to go southeast, which would be…this way," I decided, turning slightly to my right. "It doesn't look like anything's in our way, so…let's go with that. I guess we can change direction later on if we need to. Okay?"

Rita nodded in agreement. We placed the map back in our bag. We were using the one we'd gotten from the guild since it was bigger. Rita had left the old one back in our room. After getting our things in order, we began traveling at a leisurely pace. It wasn't a long trip; according to what I could drag out of Rita, this region was just a big island (definitely explained why humans only lived across the sea), and the journey itself would take only an hour at most. So I felt that we could risk a little fun and games.

"Hey, Rita! I'll race you there," I challenged Rita about twenty minutes later, wagging my tail mischievously.

Rita looked surprised before smiling. "O-oh! Um, okay," she giggled, waving her leaf.

"On three," I instructed, crouching lower to the ground. Rita planted her feet apart, getting positioned for a good start.

"One," I whispered, grinning mischievously at the Chikorita.

"T-two," Rita said a little louder, playing along.

We grinned at each other, finally shouting, "Three!"

We shot off like bullets. We raced across the meadows, laughing and stirring up the Butterfree and Beautifly who were enjoying the sunny weather and plentiful nectar. "I didn't know I could run as fast as this as a little Skitty!" I called over my shoulder to Rita, who was falling behind. "And my legs are even shorter than _yours_!"

Rita was too out of breath and too focused on _not_ keeling over to reply, but she shot me a disgruntled look that suggested I shouldn't push it, so I decided to shut my mouth.

We ran most of the way, taking short breaks whenever we needed to catch our breath. Which was often. Both of us preferred sprinting, meaning that we ran as fast as we possibly could and then ran out of energy and/or breath in two minutes or less. The land inclined at a steady rate during our run, but close to our destination it sloped upwards sharply. Rita balked at the sight of it.

"I…sssssurrender," she puffed, collapsing on the ground.

"Awwww!" I whined, looking back at her over my shoulder with a mock devastated expression. "You give up too _easilyyyy_…." Rita turned red in the face yet again. This time she also broke eye contact. _Uh-oh. _"Rita? I was kidding," I protested, hurrying back over to her. Rita refused to make eye contact. "Um...is this one of those 'Kai, you're an idiot' moments?" I suggested. "I would take it as a compliment, you know. I live to be a nuisance. It's actually very fun." Rita struggled not to smile. I grinned. "Seriously, though, I don't really want to scramble up this thing either."

The Chikorita just huffed, but it was lighthearted and she had evidently forgiven me. "Lllet's just get g-going."

It turned out to be a good thing that we cancelled our spur-of-the-moment race. As we headed further and further up the slope, the surroundings grew rocky and steep—definitely not the safest place for anyone to run around. Boulders and sharp outcroppings of rock were frequent sights along the way. Half the time we couldn't go around and had to go over them. Plus, everything was slick with rain; during our run the sky had begun swirling with gray, rain-heavy clouds, which were now hanging low over the area and accompanied by a strong wind.

"Nnnno w-wonder Spoink d-didn't want to c-come here," Rita complained nervously as we continued on our trek. "It's d-d-d-dangerous just rrrr_reaching_ this p-…p-place."

"I'm starting to think Chatot wasn't doubting us at all," I admitted, climbing up and over the next boulder impeding our path. "Finding a pearl here, even one as big as a Spoink's, isn't going to be easy—especially if it's this darn _slippery_ everywhere…."

Tiny pieces of rock broke off from stones and shot out from under our feet every time we climbed up one of the boulders, causing whichever one of us was behind the other—so far, Rita—to receive a shower of gravel in her face.

"…Thhis isn't…mmmuch fun…," Rita said quietly, almost hesitantly, as I sprayed her with stone chips for the umpteenth time. I could tell that this was her way of asking if she could lead for a while without actually asking.

"You can walk in front, if you want," I casually offered.

Rita smiled sheepishly. "O-okay…th-thanks," she added, making me quite sure that this was, indeed, her way of asking a question.

After a good half hour of hiking up the rocky terrain, I began to hear a familiar sound. "Rita, do you hear that?" I exclaimed.

Rita giggled. "Th-the ocean?"

"That means we're close to the entrance!" I babbled on. "We're almost there! Let's go!" I skittered further down the path, eager to see the sight that was soon to reveal itself to me. Rita had mentioned on the way that Drenched Bluff was right at the edge of a cliff, which overlooked the ocean. _I wonder if we could see the guild from there…._

"Huh? W-wait!" Rita called after me. I barely heard her, caught up in my excitement. I raced onward, making a beeline over field and rock alike, and taking little care to watch where I was going. I was completely fixated on our destination. "K-…Kai!" I could hear the roaring of the waves as they struck the cliff side. I could smell the water, its intoxicatingly salty scent tainting the air. I could see in the distance the very edge of the cliff and the rippling water far beyond it. My heart leaped with excitement. I really _loved_ the ocean. I kept running down the rocky path I had found, lined with gray stones, but cast a quick glance in a direction vaguely to my right. There it was: the beach where Rita had found me, a teeny-tiny strip of sand; a massive formation of coppery rock, the Beach Cave, where we had our first adventure (was it really only yesterday?); and high up on a cliff of its own, a tiny pink speck that was the tent that concealed the entrance to the guild.

"Kai, w-…w-…wait! Yyyyou're g-going to r-run…rrrright into the—"

I felt a sensation like plunging through a wall of water. My surroundings rippled and twisted like they _were_ water, and everything suddenly went silent. I yelped with surprise, the sudden change finally snapping me out of it. I glanced around, noticing with shock that I was no longer on the cliff overlooking the ocean.

I was surrounded by walls on three sides, with one small, sloping path leading out of the room I was in. Everything around me was soaked with rainwater. The side without a wall overlooked the ocean and the stormy sky. I was still high up, nowhere near level with the water. At first, I breathed a sigh of relief; maybe I had only fallen down a hole! Perhaps I wasn't in the dungeon after all.

Then I noticed that the ocean wasn't moving. The ocean would normally be pulsing and roaring, but there was no motion at all. The water lay stiff and unmoving. I could make out curls of water on the surface, frozen in the middle of forming a wave. The sound of the waves was gone. I couldn't even _smell_ the ocean anymore. It was like it was frozen. I stiffened with horror. That wasn't normal; I _was_ in the dungeon after all.

And Rita was nowhere to be seen.

"Rita!" I shouted. "Rita? Are you here?" There was no response.

This was bad. I was in a mystery dungeon, pretty much helpless in regard to battling, with no backup and no items, since Rita had been carrying the bag. She must have been warped to a different place since we entered at different times—or maybe she wasn't even in the dungeon at all. Maybe I was all on my own. And if that was the case, the best thing to do was to get going and find that pearl. The faster I found it, the faster I could leave.

Shooting an anxious look over the unmoving ocean, I hurried down the pathway out of the room. Using my claws to get a firm grip on the slippery stone, I carefully edged my way down the narrow path, which seemed to be growing narrower the closer I got to the next room. To my relief, the path got wider again and I skidded into the next room.

I spent the next few minutes scouring the area, looking everywhere I could think of. I didn't see anything and wondered if there were more floors to this dungeon, like there were at Beach Cave. I made my way into the last room, still looking carefully for anything shiny and round.

Of course, the second I entered, I happened to attract the attention of a Lileep. The weird-looking Pokémon turned its head to stare at me, watching my every move and tensing its body but not budging an inch. It was somehow rooted into the rock, so I figured I was safe for now. I slowly edged my way along the wall. If he wasn't going to attack, then I sure wasn't going to pick a fight with him. Why bother stirring up the native Pokémon if it could be avoided? Besides—I was weak to rock-types.

I darted quickly across the room, spotting a narrow tunnel through the wall. This was different; the other rooms had been connected by openings in the walls. A couple of them turned out to be connected by paths, but they were all lit because of the lack of a wall on one side. This was a tunnel in the inside of the room, and it vanished into darkness. A tiny, shallow stream trickled through it. I stuck my head inside and strained to see where it led, but the exit was undetectable.

Before I had a chance to consider whether or not it was worth exploring, something slammed into me from behind. I yelped loudly, my voice echoing in the dark tunnel I now found myself tumbling into. I landed on my side with a splash; I'd fallen right into the little stream.

Struggling to my feet, I crept back towards the entrance of the tunnel. "Exactly _who_ is responsible for this?" I I spotted the petal-like tentacles snatching wildly at nothing. I sighed angrily. _Stupid Lileep….It must have uprooted itself and followed me. _I backed away. Fighting something in this tunnel would be dangerous since I couldn't move around as freely as I'd need to.

I carefully turned around and crawled towards the opposite end. The tunnel, thankfully, was wide enough for me to be able to turn around like that, but it wasn't high enough for me to stand up all the way. I felt my way blindly through the dark when suddenly the ground beneath me sloped down steeply. "Aah!" I exclaimed as my feet slipped out from under me. _Darn stream, making the ground so easy to slip on_, I raged as I slid straight down the slope on my stomach. _I hate you._ As if in retaliation for that thought, the chute abruptly ended and I landed on the ground face-first. And landing on your face on solid rock _hurts_. "Oww," I grumbled, stumbling to my feet—paws, I mean. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry for thinking I hated you…."

I sighed, shaking myself off, and looked around. I must have fallen at least a floor down, since the ocean-frozen-in-time looked a little closer. I looked back at where I had come from. The hole was too high up in the wall for a little Skitty like me to reach from here, even by jumping. Sighing again, I wandered off in the direction I was facing. This room had two exits, and one happened to be directly across from me, so that was where I went.

Only a few steps into the adjoining room, I was startled out of my half-dazed trek by a loud jangle. I blinked and yelped, realizing I was face to face with an angry Chingling. Now, Chingling aren't all that threatening in general; in fact, they're generally pleasant Pokémon. But anger a Chingling, and you might be temporarily deaf for the next few days. Note my feline hearing and the fact that I was only about a foot bigger than the average-sized Chingling, and you'll begin to appreciate why I was a bit unnerved by this one's sudden appearance. She looked pretty tough. As soon as she realized I was aware of her presence, she let out a loud clamor expressing her annoyance with me. "What?" I complained. "I didn't do anything to you…except _maybe_ use your slide," I added thoughtfully.

The Chingling didn't look like she was in any sort of hurry to move, so I took up an offensive position. I jumped up into the air and clapped my front paws together; a blast of air knocked her off her feet with a jingle. _Huh. I guess that's Fake Out. _She flinched visibly and hopped a few steps away, ringing with each hop. After a few seconds, she let out a loud clanging sound. This was a Growl attack. I blinked, startled out of my concentration and making the Tackle attack I'd started more like a forceful nudge.

The Chingling, barely fazed, reached out with the red-and-white striped appendages on the back of her head. I tried to back away, but I wasn't quick enough to dodge. They wormed themselves around my upper body. "Hey!" I squeaked out, feeling them contract around my rib cage. "Stop…that!" I gasped out. I struggled to get away, but I was in too firm a grip. I fought for breath, desperately searching for a way out.

I heard a shout, and then, very suddenly, the Chingling and I were shoved to the ground a short distance away. Taken aback as she was, I found it easy to finally escape her grasp. I wrenched myself free and ran a short distance away, panting for breath and very sore. Once I was sufficiently recovered, I rushed back in to land a Tackle attack. My savior joined in with one of their own. Looking battered, the Chingling let out a weak chime and collapsed on the ground.

"K-…Kai! A-are you…o-okay?" I looked up to see a very familiar Chikorita hovering over me, looking close to panic. "I thhhhought she would d-d-d-drop you, nnnnot…t-take you with her…."

I faked a dazed expression. "Who are you again?" I asked innocently.

Rita blinked, tensing up and looking even more worried. "A-are you se—nnn-no, you're not. I c-can…sssssee it in your f-face." She relaxed again and frowned. "Rrreally f-funny, K-Kai…."

"Wasn't it?" I retorted, smirking. "So, where'd you come from? I thought I ran into the dungeon by myself."

"We-…well, y-you did. I f-followed you in…rrrright after," Rita explained. "I g-guess we mmmmissed each other…since we d-d-d-didn't go in at the…sssame time…." Her face turned to a grimace. "It was…ssscary, b-being all on mmm-my own," she added quietly.

"Sorry….We'll stick together from now on, then!" was my sheepish attempt at an apology. Rita nodded. Before we'd gone more than a few steps away, though, I paused. "Um, Rita."

"Huh?" she asked from behind me, sounding confused.

I fidgeted. "I, um…not good at this, but…y'know…thanks." I ducked my head self-consciously. Apologies and important thank-yous always made me feel awkward. "For, uh, _helping_ me and stuff. With that Chingling strangling me and all. So…yeah."

I could practically _hear_ her blushing. I didn't even know that was possible. "O-oh! I-I…ummmm…y-you're welcome…."

With that, we set off once again in search of Spoink's pearl. Rita had already looked around on the floor she found me at, so we were heading further down to look for it. It was a task that looked much easier than it was. In between fending off the wild Pokémon and figuring out which paths went where, we scoured every inch of that place. We must have disturbed every Pokémon that ever lived in this dungeon. On the bright side, I gained lots of experience and learned a new move—Sing. On the not-so-bright side, this was the result of searching for hours. Finally, worn out and exhausted, I stumbled upon a new alcove on the bottom floor that we hadn't noticed before.

"Hey, Rita. Look what I found," I called to my teammate. I peered into the depths of the darkened corner. "I don't think we've looked here yet."

"I-I don't…thhhhink so e-either," Rita replied, hanging back and shooting an anxious look at the shifting shadows. "…W-why don't y-you go f-f-first?"

"Okay." I stepped forwards and felt around in the darkness. I felt a subtle change in the slope. Edging my way down, I felt it fall at a steeper angle. "I think there's a path here, but it slopes down pretty steeply, so we should be careful!" I exclaimed. I led the way down the slope ever so carefully—or, well, at least until Rita slipped on a puddle and crashed right into me. We went sliding down the rest of the way, landing one on top of the other.

"Oww….Be _careful_, Rita!" I complained, wriggling out from under her and shaking myself off. "That hurt. Owwie."

"Ssssorry…," Rita apologized, looking dazed. She got to her feet as well. "I g-guess we're nnnnot getting…b-back up," she sighed, looking back at the tunnel.

"Nope," I agreed, popping the "p" sound. "Too steep. So we'd better hope that the pearl's down here and do a good job looking for it." A glint in a corner of the room caught my attention. "Huh. Or maybe we won't have to do much looking at all!"

I ran up to the round object I had spotted. It was spherical and rather large and really shiny. It made me _really_ want to play with it. I felt my tail twitch in anticipation, but I fought against the urge to bat it around the cavern. Darn Skitty instinct. Still, I couldn't resist rolling it under my paw a little, feeling the smooth and shiny pinkish surface. "Hey, Rita, come here; look at this!"

The Chikorita scrambled over to my side. She inhaled sharply, her eyes wide with amazement. "W-woooow….It's p-pretty. That's d-d-d-definitely a p-p-pearl."

"Do you think it's Spoink's?" I asked.

Rita blinked, looking up at me with surprise. "M-me?" She looked back down at the pearl. "Ah…it's rrrrreally b-big….I thhhhink it is!"

"Awesome!" I jumped into the air happily in lieu of a happy dance. "We finally found it!"

"Thhhhank g-goodness," Rita sighed, visibly relaxing. I actually wasn't aware of how tense she was until she loosened up; I guess she must have been on edge since we left this morning!

A thought occurred to me, and I stopped the happy bouncing. "So…now what do we do?"

"We t-t-take it back to the g-guild," Rita replied. She carefully placed the pearl into her new bag. "U-um…every t-time we c-c-c-complete a mmmmission…w-we should each hhhear a…vvvvoice in our heads, k-kind of like t-t-telepathy…."

Rita's badge and my badge, which were both pinned to the bag, glowed blue. _The mission has been completed, _a voice announced inside my head.I nearly jumped out of my skin. _Would you like to return to Wigglytuff Guild?_

"Uhhhh…yes?"

_Activated._

After a rush of sound and color, I found myself standing in the guild. Well, to be more accurate, I kind of fell into the guild. I wasn't exactly prepared for the landing. Better yet, everything looked like it was whirling around. "Whoa, dizzy!" I complained. From what I could tell through the rapid spinning of the room, Rita looked a little dazed, too.

"Ah! I see you two have returned." When the spinning stopped, I noticed that we were back in the lower floor of the guild, and Chatot was hopping across the room towards us.

"Yeah, we're back," I agreed. "With the pearl, too," I then added with a grin. Rita pulled the pearl out of her bag to prove our claim.

Chatot nodded, looking pleased. "Good work! You did very well for your first task." I perked up at the unexpected praise. Rita, on the other hand, didn't just perk up; she practically glowed. "I'll have someone alert Spoink. You two should just sit tight until she gets here. She lives in Treasure Town, so it won't be too long a wait."

* * *

**AN:/**

**And there we have it, Team Aster's first mission! Hopefully this chapter didn't suck too much, but I'm not too sure. Oh, well, Mt. Bristle is going to suck even more. That dungeon is _hell_ to write about, I tell you.**

HikariNoTenshi-San**: Ah, that would be the girls of the bunch whispering about them. Just like the people at my old high school, I made them completely fascinated by short people, which Kai and Rita both are. As compared to other Skitties and Chikorita, that is. Anyhow, Kai's shorter than Rita. Turns out Rita's taller than about half the guild even though she's still growing. XD Maybe I ought to make them just whisper about Kai, in that case.**

**Random Fact time!**

**Random Fact #11: **Kai has only two of those tufts on her ears instead of the typical three, and Rita's leaf is bigger than normal.


	12. Chapter 2, Part 5: Celebrate!

"Hold on, hold on. One more try!"

"O-okay," Rita agreed with a quiet laugh. She and I were playing a game she called "Fire, Water, Grass" to kill the time before Spoink arrived. You and the other player had to call out one of those three types. The objective of this game was to happen to choose the one of those three types that had the advantage over the type your opponent picked.

"Okay, ready? Fire, water, grass, go!"

"...W-water!" Rita exclaimed at the same time as I said, "Grass!"

"Hah! Finally! I beat you, I beat you," I taunted, wagging my tail tauntingly.

"Llllucky g-guess," Rita accused good-naturedly. She looked glad, which made sense, because now we could stop playing after fifteen minutes straight of it.

"HEY! Skitty! Chikorita!" Loudred's sudden shout came from about five feet away from us, which nearly put the pair of us in cardiac arrest. Again. "You have a visitor named SPOINK!"

"We're right here, Loudred; we can hear you," I muttered under my breath. Instead of saying this to his face, I pointedly shouted back, "_Okay! Thanks!_"

Loudred frowned. "No need to YELL. I'm NOT that far away."

I sighed heavily, resigning myself to my fate of being yelled at for the rest of my apprenticeship and not being able to say anything about it. "Sorry, Loudred." Rita, still very shy around others, said nothing and merely followed me upstairs toting the bag with the pearl in it.

"I'm kind of excited about this," I admitted to Rita as I leaped up the rungs of the ladder. "It's our first successful mission _and_ we're meeting our very first client!"

"Mmme, too," Rita told me, smiling.

Chatot was there already, talking to a very animated, and very battered, Spoink. She was obviously our client, as she did not a have a pearl on her head. She was in the middle of telling Chatot her life's story when we walked up. "Ah, there you two are," Chatot exclaimed, looking very much relieved. He turned back to Spoink, who was wobbling ominously. "Spoink, these are Skitty and Chikorita. They're the apprentices who retrieved your pearl."

Spoink's eyes lit up. "My, my! These two children, all on their own? Incredible!" She looked us over, apparently impressed.

Rita and I exchanged a bewildered glance; not knowing what all the fuss was about, I just shrugged and nodded to our bag. Rita dug through our stuff and emerged with Spoink's pearl. "U-um…hhhhere's your p-p-pearl," Rita announced very quickly, nudging the object towards Spoink.

Spoink squealed with glee and somehow managed to put it on her head. Almost instantly her wobbling stopped. She twirled around, clearly delighted. "Th-thank you!" she exclaimed happily. "This pearl must be propped on my head, you see. Otherwise I get so dreadfully off balance. I missed it so much! I was boinging and sproinging everywhere!" She glanced down at her body. "That's why I'm covered in dings and bumps."

"It was all the way at the bottom of Drenched Bluff," I explained, grinning. "But we got it back for you!"

"Yes, and thanks to you, that long nightmare is over!" She beamed at us. "You have my sincere thanks!"

"Yyyou're...w-w-welcome...," Rita added shyly with a tiny smile.

"It was nothing," I replied. Which wasn't exactly true, since I could distinctly remember a certain incident involving me almost getting strangled to death, but I wasn't going to point that out and make anyone feel bad.

Spoink brushed me off. "Nonsense! Please, take these as your rewards!" She deposited three bottles, labeled Protien, Calcium, and Iron, and a small sack of Poké at my feet. Then she stood back, waiting for our reactions.

Rita stared at the items in complete awe. "Th-these are...rrrreally rare," she whispered to me as she sorted through the bottles. "Thhhey're v-vitamins. They hhhelp you g-grow...ssssstronger." Then she counted out the Poké and gasped. "...2000 Poké?" She glanced up at Spoink. "A-all this is...fffor _us_?"

"I don't feel right taking all this," I muttered. Even though I didn't really understand Poké's value, 2000 was a big number, and we'd even been given some rare items in addition to that.

Spoink laughed, nodding her head eagerly. "Of course, of course! That's nothing compared to my pearl's value!"

"W-...wow...," Rita sighed again, her eyes wide. I guess she was so surprised that it was overruling her shyness. "Th-thank you...!"

"Yeah, thanks a bunch!" I added happily.

Spoink merely smiled and headed towards the exit, calling back, "Farewell!"

Rita turned to me, looking stunned. "Th-this is a lll_lot_ of P-Poké. W-we're..._rich_ now!"

I blinked. "Really?" Rita nodded excitedly. "I kind of feel bad for taking all of it, but...this could really help us!" Rich was good. Rich was _really _good. We'd have funds to do anything we wanted now! Rita'd have enough money to go around and research her Relic Fragment, and I could go searching for my past without having to worry about how I'd survive. I'd have enough money to live off of for a long time. Maybe a couple more missions like this, and we'd be set! This could be—

"Well done, Team Aster!" Oops. I forgot all about Chatot—or being in the guild, for that matter. I guiltily turned to look at the multicolored bird Pokémon who was approaching us. Gallivanting off on my own would have to wait. At least he looked pleased with our haul. "Now, hand that money over, if you please!"

Rita and I were both taken aback by this request. "Huh? Why? But we _earned_ this money!" I protested, even as Rita wordlessly handed over the little pouch Spoink had given it to us in.

"Yes, you have." Chatot smiled at us indulgently as if we were little children, dumping out the contents of the money bag and splitting it into two very uneven piles. "But most of the money from jobs goes to the Guildmaster, you see!" To my horror, he put the larger pile of Poké in a money bag of his own and placed the rest back in ours. "And your team's share of the money comes out to...200 Poké!"

"What?" I demanded. "That's only, like, ten percent of the reward! That isn't fair!" I couldn't believe this. After all the work we went through to get that pearl, Chatot won't even let us keep all of the money we earned? Rita didn't say anything, but her expression told me that she agreed with my point of view.

"Well, that's the guild's rule," he said, shrugging. "It takes a lot of funds to keep this guild functioning at a satisfactory level. You'll simply have to accept your obligation to contribute—unless, of course, you'd rather supply your own food and find and take care of your own shelter!"

"I-I...wouldn't like that...," Rita replied quietly.

I sighed irritably, lashing my tail. "Neither would I. Man, this sucks."

Chatot rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry for your tragidy," he sarcastically replied. "_However_, I must say that the two of you have done a great job on your first mission." He cheerfully fluttered his feathers. "You handled the mission well and you sustained few injuries. You could stand to be slightly more professional when dealing with clients, but your performance wasn't bad at all. You've exceeded all of our expectations!"

I couldn't help but smile at the praise. Chatot may be a little critical at times—proven when he critiqued how we talked to Spoink even as he was praising us—but his compliments were genuine. I think you really have to earn it, and that makes it even better. "Thank you."

"Thhhank you!" Rita exclaimed.

Of course, on the other hand, if such simple things had "exceeded expectations"...

Chatot nodded. "Now, Chimecho ought to announce dinner before too long. I suggest that the two of you find a way to entertain yourselves until then." He smiled back at us before heading off to the lower level.

_Aaaaaand the happiness is gone._ I sighed heavily once he was gone. "I like Chatot, but I think he patronizes us a little," I told Rita, who had slipped off the treasure bag and was tucking the money pouch into a pocket on one side. "'Entertain yourselves'? What are we, small children? And what was with that look he gave us earlier?" Here I lowered my voice to the lowest pitch I could still communicate with—"The _oh-what-silly-children-saying-such-funny-things_ one." I huffed irritably, my voice returning to normal. "I wish he wouldn't boss us around so much and treat us like we're little kids."

"I…I thhhink he d-d-d-doesn't really know...hhhhow he ss_should_ t-treat us," Rita commented, straightening up. "W-we're...yyyounger than the...o-other apprentices here...If he thinks of th-_them_ as kids—e-except C-Croagunk, I think, and D-D-Dugtrio—w-we're not mmmmuch more than t-t-t-toddlers," she added.

"I don't remember how old I am, but I at least know I'm closer to being an adult than a kid," I sighed. It frustrated me that I couldn't recall simple facts about myself like that. It bothered me even more than forgetting about my past did. It was like I had forgotten about _myself_. "Let's go downstairs," I decided, changing the subject. "You can teach me another game."

"Okay," Rita agreed.

We settled ourselves a short distance from Croagunk and his caudron. Rita taught me to play a game called Chase, which we played until I bowled over Chatot by accident. He yelled at us for "recklessly charging around the guild and endangering the well-being of passerby." Rita and I had both been mortified because Wigglytuff had witnessed this, but thankfully he just thought the whole situation was hysterically funny and collapsed on the ground from laughing so hard. When they were gone, we decided our safest option was to play the Quiet Game and teach ourselves how to melt into the floor. In the meantime, many of the apprentices came up to us to congratulate us and assure us that this story would "forever be in the minds and hearts of guild members everywhere." Kill me now. However, Loudred did mention that Chatot must at least take our lack of experience into consideration, because anyone else would have been on cleaning duty for a week. I suppose this is a good thing.

And so, Rita and I just stood silently in a corner until dinner. Normally I would have been bored out of my mind by then, since the Quiet Game (and trying to turn invisible) wasn't really that invigorating, but I was distracted by listening in on Loudred and Diglett's conversation. Eavesdropping was a not so good habit of mine, but they were only talking about things like the Pokémon that had dropped in on the guild today, so it wasn't really _that _bad, right?

The sun was low on the horizon when we heard a jingling noise coming from the kitchens. "Everyone! Thanks for waiting!" All of us in the room looked up and over towards the dining hall as Chimecho emerged, looking pleased. "I finished making dinner! Come on! Dinner's on!" A huge cheer went up from the other apprentices; Rita and I just exchanged a look of amusement. These Pokémon really liked to cheer, because from what we had seen so far, they did it just about every time something even marginally exciting happened.

Everyone surged towards the dining hall. Even though we were closer to the entrance than most of the guild, somehow we ended up at the very back of the crowd. "How did we wind up last?" I grumbled to Rita as the single-file line snaked into the room. "Even _Chatot's_ ahead of us."

"...I _can_ hear you, you know, but I'll kindly pretend I didn't," Chatot told us without turning around. Yeaaaah...not a good idea to talk about someone who is directly in front of you. Oops. I grimaced, and Rita struggled to stifle her laughter.

The line inched forwards and at last we made our way into the dining hall. Lit by the last of the light and a fire that Chimecho must have cooked thing over, it seemed very cozy and welcoming. It was a few seconds before we noticed the tremendous amount of food on the long table and the brilliant grins on the others' faces as they shouted, "Surprise!"

"Wow...that's a lot of food!" I exclaimed, surprised. "Is all this for _us_?"

"Well, we need to eat, too, but yes, it's in your honor," Chimecho explained, smiling.

Sunflora excitedly waved her leaves through the air. "We talked to Wigglytuff, who talked to Chatot, who talked to Chimecho, about having a feast for your joining day, and, oh my gosh, they said yes!" she squealed.

"Hey, hey! It's not every day you join a guild," Corphish added, banging his claws on the table and making the dishes rattle. The others glared at him for disturbing the bowls and platters of food and he quickly pulled his claws back to his sides.

Rita squeaked out something that was probably a thank you, but she was stammering so much that I couldn't make it out. She looked overwhelmed, but very grateful.

"Thanks a lot!" I added, grinning.

"Have a seat," Chatot invited from where he sat at the head of the table. Wigglytuff grinned from a far corner of the room where he was balancing a huge apple on his head and pointed to the empty seats on the other side of the table. I sat next to Loudred, and Rita sat next to me at the corner. Pikachu and Charmander were sitting opposite of us, the former waving at us enthusiastically. Charmander elbowed him and rolled her eyes.

The food was really good. I couldn't remember having anything quite like it, but I could barely remember anything at all, let alone what food I'd had in my previous life. As soon as we set aside our plates, Rita and I were each presented with something that looked like a…well, the word that came to mind was "jellybean," but I didn't know what a "jellybean" is. I figured it was a human food. Mine was milky white and Rita's was grass green.

"We pooled our Poké together to buy these," Loudred explained, mistaking my look of confusion for one of amazement, which was apparently the correct reaction.

"Th-they're g-g-gummis," Rita whispered to me quickly. "Th-they're...rrrrreally expensive. They're sssssupposed to mmmmake you...ssssmarter." She popped her own gummi in her mouth and chewed slowly. I followed her lead and ate my own, self-consciously aware that everyone was watching me. Of course, I forgot about that really quickly. The flavor exploded in my mouth, and I swear on anything on this earth that I have never tasted anything so good in my life, even though I couldn't remember "jellybeans" or anything else I ever ate. There aren't even words to describe the taste those gummies have. It kind of made my head feel tingly, but as soon as the tiny piece of candy was gone, I desperately wished I had another and made a mental note to find out where they sell them. These things were addictive!

"Aaaaah!" Loudred sighed once everyone had finished picking at the leftovers, sounding very content. "I'm done eating! Excellent meal!"

"Thank you," Chimecho replied, smiling.

"I'm stuffed, and now I'm getting sleepy," someone else I couldn't see added with a huge yawn to prove his/her point.

"Yep, I'm off to bed!" Diglett announced, starting to tunnel out of the room. "Good night, gang!"

"Good night!" most of the group called back, getting up from the table themselves. They swarmed out of the room, talking animatedly among themselves, except for Chimecho, who stayed behind to clean up. Many of them stopped to offer us more congratulations and to beg us to come walk back with them—apparently everyone wanted to get to know us—but we politely declined. It wouldn't be fair to leave Chimecho with all this mess.

"Do you need any help cleaning up?" I offered, walking up to Chimecho with Rita close behind me.

Chimecho looked a little surprised. "Huh? Oh, no, don't worry about me," she chuckled, shooing us outside. "It doesn't take long at all. You should go and get to know the others!"

I dug in my heels, trying to turn back around. I felt guilty leaving her with all the work. "But I—"

Chimecho just smiled and offered a goodbye as a very large leaf grabbed me by the tail and tugged me away from the dining area. Rita was being pulled away by the leaf on her head, courtesy of Charmander. I yelped as Sunflora (I couldn't see her, but who else had leaves for hands?) dragged me across the floor. "Oh my gosh, Skitty, Chikorita, did you really think we'd let you spend your night washing dishes?" the cheerful Pokémon asked.

"Well, that was kind of the plan. Why are you dragging us away, exactly?" I asked, wincing at a particularly hard tug on my tail. "Ouch."

"All of us apprentices hang out in one of the bedrooms once in a while," Charmander explained. "Tonight just so happens to be one of those times, and we're not letting you skip out on it! Everybody wants to get to know you."

"Okay, but can we at least _walk_ there?" I pleaded. "I swear we won't go running back to clean up." Sunflora and Charmander exchanged a glance and let us go. Rita and I stumbled to our feet, Rita shaking her head and me waving my tail to loosen the sore muscles there. "Oh, yay! Freedom!"

Said freedom was short-lived. As soon as we were set free, we were immediately shoved into the nearest dorm room.

* * *

**AN:/**

**I could completely picture the in-game hero and partner being given a celebratory dinner only to be dragged off by the other apprentices for an interrogation. XD**

**So, their first mission is done! Not so interesting this time around, because this was all just filler and totally not worth the almost-two weeks I made you all wait, but the next chapter introduces the next little plot twist I'm bringing to our lovely storyline! So at least you'll get something new next time.**

HikariNoTenshi-San**: Kai really does need to be more observant about what's going on around her, doesn't she? In just that dungeon alone she managed to run inside by herself, get snuck up on by a Lileep, fall down a looooong slope, and almost get strangled. Good thing Rita turned up just in time for her epic superhero save! Thankfully, Kai'll probably get better at _not_ getting herself killed when she gets the hang of things.**

**Sooo, now I need another Random Fact. Hm...want a tiny way-in-the-future spoiler to make up for the lack of interesting things in this chapter?  
Random Fact #12: **The island-region this story takes place in keeps records of _every_ Pokémon born in said region. Usually, no one comes or goes from that region, so the only Pokémon living there would be the ones who were born there...


	13. Chapter 2, Part 6: Gathering

The room was crowded. All of the apprentices were there, except for Croagunk, Diglett, and Dugtrio, seated in a lopsided circle around the room. "Here they are!" Sunflora announced happily, pushing us past the ring and into the center of the circle. Instantly, like the bursting of a dam, words spilled forth from the excitable group.

"Hey, you found them!"

"Awesome!"

"Hi again, guys!"

"Did you like the feast?"

"Where did you two vanish to?"

Charmander, taking a seat next to Pikachu, rolled her eyes. "These two nutcases were volunteering to help _clean_!"

Loudred stared at us incredulously. "WHAT? On your _FIRST night_? Are you CRAZY?"

"Oh, man...You found out?" I asked, arranging my face into a completely shocked expression.

Some of the apprentices weren't sure whether to take that seriously or not, but at least Pikachu caught on. I don't think my attempt was even that good to begin with, though. "I thought Skitties were supposed to be meek and innocent, rather than sarcastic," he observed with an amused air. "Granted, I've only heard rumors. And Chikorita here has barely said two words to us!"

"Well, I just like being sarcastic," I replied with a grin. "I think it's funny. How 'bout you, Rita? Anything unusual with you that we should know about?"

I glanced over at Rita. She was probably overwhelmed with all the attention, judging by the very unique shade of purple her face was turning. "I-I, um...nnnnno," she stuttered, staring at her feet. "I'm...rrrr_really_ shy..."

"A shy Chikorita? Hey, hey," Corphish announced loudly, "your team really breaks the mold!"

"Let's take that as a compliment," I suggested as Rita turned a deeper shade of puce.

"Oh my gosh! So tell us about yourselves!" Sunflora called from her seat.

"Yeah!"

"Come on, spill!"

"Where'd you come from?"

"Their EGGS!"

"Don't be a smart aleck, Louder. I _meant_, where'd you two live?"

"Gosh! How'd you form a team? Did you know each other before?"

"Give us your life stories!"

"Are Skitties psychic types? They're pink, like a lot of psychic Pokémon! You should tell us what the future is!"

"Uh...okay, guys, let's not get carried away here..."

I couldn't help but laugh at the playfully bantering group. "I think I'll like it here," I chuckled to Rita.

Rita was smiling. "Mmmmme, too. Thhhey're funny," she whispered to me. "And...they're nnnnot...mmmad."

"By what?" I asked, completely at a loss as to what anyone would be mad at her for. "Your stuttering? Because you're quiet?" I guessed. Rita nodded, looking awkward. "Why would somebody be mad at you for that?"

"Come on!" Pikachu complained, interrupting us before Rita could reply. "Stories, ASAP!"

Rita pretended to be very much absorbed in what was going on around her, so I decided to play along. If she didn't want to talk about whatever self-esteem issues she obiously had, then that was her decision. "Okay, okay," I giggled, and the group quieted down to listen to me. "Uh..." I didn't know what kind of place I could tell them I came from, so I jumped into the story of how Rita and I decided to form a team. "Rita and I met on the beach earlier today, actually. We were talking when these two bullies started picking on her. They stole something from her, so we had to follow them into the Beach Cave mystery dungeon."

Chimecho, who had joined us at that point, gasped, "That's awful!"

Bidoof stared at us with an utterly astounded look on his face. "Golly, why would anybody pick on Chikorita?"

"Hey, hey! If you see them again, let us know!" Corphish added.

"Yeah—you're one of us now!" Pikachu declared, bobbing his head enthusiastically.

Sunflora nodded along with him. "And nobody gets to pick on any of us apprentices and get away with it!"

Rita's eyes were wide with shock and she stammered something along the lines of "thank you very much." I guess she wasn't used to people being so willing to stand up for her. I'd have to remember this moment so I could remind her of it when she was being particularly down on herself.

"Don't thank us. We didn't do anything...well, _yet_," Charmander added with a slightly evil-looking smirk. "So go on. Did you get it back?"

"Uh-huh," I replied proudly. "We chased them to the very end of the dungeon. We sure showed them not to pick on Rita, _and_ we got her thing back!" I grinned at Rita, who smiled back. "When we got back to the beach, Rita asked if I'd join this guild with her and form a team together. So, here we are!"

Charmander chuckled. "That's cute."

Pikachu wrinkled his nose and jerked as far away from her as possible. "_Cute_?" he teased. "Eww, Andrea, you're talking like a girl."

"That might be because I _am_ a girl," Charmander retorted, frowning.

Sunflora shook her head. "They're going to start arguing if we don't distract them, so let's go on with the interrogation! Oh my gosh, so, where did you both live? I think I've seen you around Treasure Town a couple of times, Chikorita," Sunflora commented, "but where did you come from, Skitty?"

I contemplated how to answer that. _I _hate_ lying. I wish I could just tell the truth, but that would be disastrous. Would I be kicked out if they found out I have no memories? Not worth trying. Maybe I could say that I came over the ocean…? No…that would lead to questions about how I got here and what it's like "back home" and if I've ever seen a human. Rita said humans live across the ocean, right? So I don't want to make that my story. I'll mess up if there's too many questions. I could tell them I was from "the place most Skitties live," but that's super vague and Skitties are rare, so they'd still probably ask questions….Maybe I could just talk about some meadow I'll make up. Ugh, this is frustrating! It would be so much easier if I could just tell the truth!_

"I, um, don't know. Rita found me passed out on the beach, and I don't remember anything at all from—"

The words were out of my mouth before I even realized I was speaking. By the time I caught myself, it was too late; the damage had been done. At least I had caught myself before I finished the sentence with "from when I was a human," but I had just revealed my dilemma to all but three of the apprentices.

The others stared at me with shock written all over their faces. Rita looked over at me, confused, and I shrugged helplessly, feeling my face flushing. I had _not_ intended to say that. No way. But, I had thought about how much I wished I could, and so the internal filtering system had just okay'd it without my brain's stamp of approval. Figures; I think I've always been driven by emotion rather than rational thought...

Charmander frowned. "I think I've heard of that. Amnesia, right? Same name as the move?"

"Oh my gosh, Skitty, that must be awful!" Sunflora gushed.

"Golly, you really don't remember anything?" Bidoof asked. I shook my head. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Probably not," I replied, feeling my face flaming. "Rita thought that maybe it would come back on its own."

"Hey, hey!" Corphish interrupted. "I remember this one Pokémon I knew that hit his head really hard. He couldn't remember some stuff for about a day, but his memory did come back on its own. Maybe the same thing is happening to Skitty!"

I tilted my head thoughtfully. "But that all happened yesterday, and I still don't remember much at all."

Loudred frowned. "Do you THINK we could find a DOCTOR or SOMETHING to help get it back FASTER?"

"It's her _mind_, though. I dunno if doctors can fix mind problems...," Pikachu trailed off.

"Oh my gosh—maybe a psychic type could do it!" Sunflora exclaimed. She peered over at Chimecho, eagerly explaining, "Chimecho, you're a psychic type! Look into her mind and see if you can figure out what's going on!"

Chimecho looked a little surprised, then worried. "Well...I don't know if I can. I never tried doing this before...but I can try it now. Is that okay?" she asked me.

"I...yeah, that's fine," I agreed. I was actually curious to see if it would help.

Chimecho concentrated deeply. You could see it on her face. Everyone leaned forwards, watching. I felt something like a pulsing sensation in my mind, feathery light at first but quickly growing stronger and faster and flooding deeper into the recesses of my mind. It didn't bother me as much as I thought it would have, but suddenly, a flash of pain like lightning seemed to break the connection. Chimecho and I both yelped with pain, recoiling.

"Ouch!" I shouted. I shook my head fiercely, trying to stop the high-pitched ringing in my ears. Then I almost knocked myself out doing that because of the intense pain _pulsing_ in my head that was made even worse by the shaking.

"K-Kai! A-are you okay?"

"WHOA! Was that SUPPOSED to happen?"

"Oh my gosh, Louder, they both just yelled in _pain_! What do you think?"

"Golly! What happened?"

Slowly but surely, the ringing died away and I was able to move around without feeling like my head was getting cleaved in two. "Ugh...that hurt." I stumbled to my paws, the world swirling around me in dizzying circuits. Rita did her best to help steady me. I looked over in Chimecho's direction, struggling to focus and inwardly panicking. "W-what was that? That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?"

"I...I don't know what happened!" Chimecho answered me, looking slightly panicky. "I didn't get a very strong connection, so maybe I'm not right, but…I think _something_ wouldn't let me look where your memories should be..."

The apprentices burst into speech at the same moment, and the voices combined sounded more like unintelligible babbling than actual speech. As they all debated and speculated about the previous events, Rita whispered to me, "K-Kai...a-are you okay?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'm just kind of dizzy."

"W-well, as llllong as you're...nnnnot hurt..." Rita paused. "Um...d-do you have...a-any idea wha-...wh-what happened?"

"Not a clue," I sighed. "I wish I did. The only thing I do know is that I suddenly know what a Pokéball is. Other than that, I don't know…_anything_, really!" I added angrily, frustrated with this guessing game. It wasn't fair! Why couldn't I remember anything about my life as a human except for stupid details like _I saw or used a Pokéball_? Why was I a Pokémon? And, more importantly, _why_ couldn't I have the answers to all this _now_?

"Friends! What are you all doing?"

At the sound of the very cheerful voice, everyone fell silent. We all turned to see the Guildmaster himself standing in the threshold, looking around at everyone with wide eyes.

I felt my stomach drop and twist into a knot. What if someone told Wigglytuff that I had lost my memory? I didn't want him or Chatot to know. What if they got someone to look at me and that Pokémon realized I was human once? What if they decided that a Pokémon with no memory was useless and kicked me out? I don't know where else I could go! I liked it here. I even liked the work, even if Chatot was stupid and didn't give us any of the cool jobs.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Charmander got there first. "Guildmaster!" she gasped. "Well, um, y'see, we were just..." She glanced over her shoulder to look at me, and I shook my head _no _ever so slightly. "...sharing stories!" Charmander quickly improvised. "Yup, that's what we were doing. And _then..._uh...we started to argue about who was going to tell the next story. We're sorry if we bothered you."

"That's okay," Wigglytuff brushed us off, still smiling widely. "I was only curious! But it _is_ time for Chatot and I to put the lights out," he added more seriously. "So all of you should be getting back to your own rooms!"

There was a general murmur of assent until Wigglytuff left the room, at which point I sighed and practically melted onto the floor out of relief and everyone else started complaining and wishing everyone a good night. Even Rita and I were disappointed that we had to go; we were really starting to like the other apprentices. As we left and slipped into our own room in the dark, Rita and I began to talk quietly under our breaths.

"T-t-t-today was…b-busy," Rita commented as she settled down in her bed. It was as close to a complaint as she got.

"Yeah, I know. So much happened today," I agreed as I sprawled out in my own nest. "I hope it's not _always_ this…active."

"Mm-hm," Rita replied. I couldn't see her in the dark, but she sounded sympathetic. "…I'm g-glad our…f-first job was a ssssssuccess."

"I actually liked it a lot," I commented, shutting my eyes. "I wasn't sure I would, but it's actually kind of fun. I really like helping others."

"I…I lllliked getting th-…thanked by…Ssssspoink."

"That was great. She was so nice to us! I hope we get more clients like her, even if she was a little…odd." I screwed up my face. "Having the guild take away so much of our money, though, I could live without."

I heard her sigh heavily. "…We c-c-can't…rrrrreally do m-much about th-that…."

"I guess that's true," I murmured, almost drifting off.

"…Kai?"

I woke myself up again, lifting my head to look over at Rita. "What's up?"

She didn't look at me. "D-do you ever m-miss your f-family, e-even thought you c-can't remember them?"

I blinked. _Well, _that_ was out of the blue_, I thought."I…I don't know, Rita." To be honest, I hadn't thought about my family very much since I came here. "In a way, I guess….I mean, I can't really _miss_ someone I don't remember…but…I guess I kind of feel sad that I _don't_ remember them, and I know that if I had my memories of them I would probably miss them a lot."

"…Yeah…," Rita replied in a more subdued voice than usual.

"Are you thinking about your family?" I asked cautiously.

"…Y-yes…." Suddenly her tone of voice hardened. "But nnnnow I'm g-going to bed. G-good night, K-Kai."

I was left bewildered in the wake of the most dismissive—and even hostile-sentence I had heard Rita utter yet. When I asked, I thought she might not appreciate my asking, but I hadn't expected her to act _that_ way. _I guess she was…really upset about something? Her mom, maybe? That would make sense. It might not be a good idea to ask her about it right now, though…._

"…Ah…um, 'night, Rita," I whispered back, trying and succeeding to sound normal when really I was completely and utterly dumbfounded. "Let's try our best again tomorrow."

* * *

**AN:/**

**Um...yeah. Hi, guys. So, uh, I'm really sorry for making you wait _another_ few weeks for this. In the last two weeks I had three projects to do, all of which were long and/or sprung on me at the last minute, and one of which was technically my final for the one class. Then I had my three other finals yesterday and the day before that. My point is: I had no life. It really sucked. But my first year of college is over, which is good. On the other hand, now I get to look forward to three/four months of sitting at a desk for six hours a day and answering phones. Yippee.**

**Anyway...the guild members know everything except that Kai was human. Yeah, I know, not much of an exciting plot twist. This here is a gradual thing, dear readers. One day it will blossom into a fruitful climax. And now that I'm done talking like a human poem, it is review time! Let's all rejoice!**

HikariNoTenshi-San: **I don't like jellybeans either! Yay, I've discovered someone else besides me who doesn't like them! =D That's a very good question. I dunno...magic intelligence-increasing jellybeans like Gummis might be so magical that they force everyone to like them. They're magically delicious! And yes, Kai probably _would_ have wound up destroying the dishes. And then blamed it on the dishes themselves for "jumping" out of her grasp.**

**Well, darn. Now I really want Lucky Charms, after that "magically delicious" comment. I don't own that, by the way. That's the Lucky Charms...um...whatever you call it. Their saying thingy. No need to sue me for borrowing it.**

**Random Fact #13:** Croagunk likes to prank people to the point of it being mean. The inhabitants of Treasure Town have woken up to many various and slightly dangerous and/or illegal situations. Toxic Spikes outside their front doors. Weird glowing goo dumped on some of the items in Kangaskhan Storage. Thirty rocks very convincingly painted to look like Eggs placed outside Chansey Daycare (poor Chansey almost had a heart attack, thinking these were all Eggs she had to take care of). Items missing from Kecleon Market that will mysteriously reappear in broad daylight with no one seeing how they got there. And then there's the occasional day when _nothing_ happens, making everyone completely paranoid, which is much more effective at causing pandemonium than the pranks themselves are. In the meantime, no one knows when Croagunk leaves to do this, or how he comes back without being noticed or getting trapped outside because of the entrance gate.


	14. SPECIAL EPISODE 2: Guildmaster

_The Special Episode  
"The Guildmaster's Thoughts"  
stars Wigglytuff as the main character._

_You will progress through the story with  
Wigglytuff as the playable character.*_

* * *

It isn't really too hard to figure out when Chatot's coming to visit. Most of the time, you can hear him talking all the way here. He likes to talk, you know. So when I heard him talking and talking and talking outside the door, I figured he was just talking to himself again before asking to come in to talk to me about something that was bothering him. He does that an awful lot.

Except, this time, someone answered him! Two someones, actually! Their voices sounded too young to be members of an exploration team, so first I thought it was a couple of the apprentices. But I know what all their voices sound like, andI didn't recognize these. So I figured it must have been two Pokémon who wanted to join our guild! Who else would be here? We weren't planning an expedition, so no one would be trying to get in on one. It _had_ to be new apprentices, which made me very happy! Pokémon who joined our guild were definitely my friends, and I liked making new friends. I liked teaching the apprentices to help other Pokémon, even if I couldn't do much of the teaching. It was lots of work running a guild, since I had to deal with finances and spreading the word and making sure everything got done that needed to and all that other incredibly boring stuff. At least Chatot helped out a lot.

After Chatot talked at the new apprentices for a very long time, he finally asked to come in. "Guildmaster! May we come in? This is Chatot and two others."

"I recognize your voice by now, Chatot!" I called back, laughing. "Everyone come in! The more friends the better!"

I heard him come inside. I could hear the two younger ones shifting around. I guess they were nervous. I bet Chatot did that to them with his lecture. Oh, well, they'd be less nervous soon! Chatot announced, "Guildmaster, I have with me two young Pokémon, Chikorita and Skitty, who wish to join our guild as apprentices and form an exploration team."

I wondered why he had to talk so formally. He always did that and I didn't get why.

"Guildmaster…."

If he's trying to seem more like a second-in-command, I don't see how talking like that will help. I'm the Guildmaster, and I know it's said that I'm very smart, but I don't usually talk all formal and whatnot. Except for when I use words like "whatnot," and I don't really know why I just did! Hm. Maybe it was just something Chatot just _did_ and there wasn't a reason for it?

"Um…Guildmaster?"

Oh, right. Chatot was waiting for me to say something so that he knows that I know that he and the two others are inside. And I was also facing the wall. Huh. Why am I facing the wall? I forget. So I just kind of flopped over onto my back to see them. "Hiya!" I exclaimed happily.

They looked funny upside-down! A Skitty and a Chikorita, just like Chatot said. They both looked startled and jumped, I guess because I moved so suddenly and I kind of shouted. The Chikorita made this funny noise when I scared her, which made doing that more fun.

I rolled over onto my stomach and got up as I finished introducing myself. "I'm Wigglytuff! I'm the guildmaster!" I grinned at them. "You want to form an exploration team, right?"

"W-well, yeah," Skitty replied. She gave me a weird look, but that was okay, since I knew I was kind of a strange Pokémon. She was pretty young to want to become an apprentice! Not too young, but she was definitely a teenager and the rest of the apprentices here were already full-grown. She seemed a little uncertain about being here, but she looked like she was pretty self-confident. It was weird. The way she held herself…the way she spoke…she kind of seemed more like a child. It looked like she didn't have any bad experiences weighing her down, and I don't think she was faking it. Skitties tended to be pretty naive in the first place, but it seemed like something more than just her personality. I'd think she was spoiled or something, but she didn't look the part. Either she was very sheltered or there was something really weird going on here. I'd have to keep an eye on her just in case. Still, I could tell that she was determined to join. Because of her determination, she could do it, even if she _was_ younger than the others.

Chikorita—I knew who she was, but I don't think I ever spoke to her. She lived in Treasure Town, which this guild was on the outskirts of, and almost every week for the past year or so she'd been trying to work up the courage to come inside the guild. She was definitely really scared. She was probably just a little older than Skitty, and literally shaking with nerves. She looked _terrified_. On the outside, she didn't look like guild material, but her eyes said she wanted to join really badly, and I thought she could probably do it. If just standing here was making her so nervous, then she had to have been really brave actually _coming_ here. Even if it was because someone else was also there (which was probably true), that wasn't important. The important part was that despite her fear, she wasn't running away like all the other times she approached the grate in front of our guild. She was coping and she was showing some courage, and someone who could overcome all that fear would be valuable to us.

All that makes it sound like it took a very long time, but it was really more like a couple seconds. "Well, that's really fastastic-ariffic!" I liked to make up words. It was fun. "So, well, let me see…," I began. "First you'll need a name, of course!"

Skitty looked surprised. "A name?" I thought that was weird, because everyone knew that you needed a name for your exploration team, even the Pokémon who don't live around here. Pokémon on the other side of the island probably know! That made me think that there really was something going on here. Chatot looked more suspicious of Skitty being confused, but Chatot always thinks everyone is out to get everyone else. But I can't blame him for that, since there are a lot of Pokémon out there doing some bad stuff and more show up every day. We get to see it every day when the outlaw buliten board fills up with more and more wanted posters by the day.

Chikorita jumped in before Chatot could say anything, which was surprising because Chatot is always really quick to do that. "Um...w-...w-we, um...d-d-d-didn't d-decide on a nnname yet..." Is she stuttering because she's scared, or because her voice always does that?

"That's okay!" I said. Not having a team name yet didn't bother me. Maybe Chatot, but not me. "Take your time! Names need lots and lots of thought so they can turn out really, really good!" If you picked a name you weren't going to like later, it took a lot of time to change it to something else, so it was better to take time to think now rather than later.

The two of them whispered together for a little while. Chatot looked annoyed even though it wasn't that long. He has _no_ patience. While they talked, I thought about the perfect apple I'd had at dinner. It was really, really, _really_ good! Perfect apples were my _favorite_ food in the whole wide world! I _loved_ perfect apples!

Skitty looked up at us then. "Team Aster! That'll be our name!" she announced really happily.

I grinned. Aster was a nice word. I liked it. I think it was some kind of flower. And it wasn't something like "Skittorita," which meant they really did think about it. "That's a good name! I'll register you now." I sat down on my blanket again, closed my eyes, and twitched my ears a lot while I said "Registering!" over and over. It didn't actually have a purpose except to confuse the apprentices, because as long as I knew they were a team everyone was good to go. But trying to confuse new apprentices always worked really well, and it was really funny! Especially some of their reactions to the end!

"All registered! YOOM-TAH!" I made the room light up like a lightning flash. Chikorita and Skitty looked really confused and possibly kind of scared. "Congratulations! You're now an official exploration team within this guild!"

Chikorita finally said something. "A-already?"

Then Skitty found her voice, too. "What about the training?"

Now Chatot was talking again. I wondered when he'd start talking again. He was quiet for a really long time! "Oh, don't worry about that. You may be a team already, but you'll be training here for years!" And then he laughed. It might seem mean, since Chatot was kind of making fun of them, but I know he really does like teaching the apprentices. He's just weird and won't say so, and he does lots of things like picking on them to make it look like he _doesn't_, but then he slips up and says or does something really nice. And then nobody ever, ever forgets it. It's very good blackmail!

Skitty made a face and started talking again, but it looked like it was going to be a complaint so I just talked over her. "Congraaaatualtions! You two are apprentices now. So, um, in honor of this event, I have a gift for you!" I went to my big chest and got a little one out of it and gave it to them. At least they were paying attention now. "It's a Pokémon Exploration Team Kit. It has everything you'll need inside."

"Thhhhis is r-really…all f-for us?" Chikorita piped up.

"Yes!" I told her.

She looked pretty happy! "Tha—thank you!" she exclaimed.

Both of the newest apprentices were excited and spent the next few minutes asking about everything they got. Chatot and I answered all their questions—and there really were questions about _everything_ they found in there!

"Hey, Rita, there's a bag like yours in here, too!" Chatot and I looked at each other because we were surprised, and then looked at what Skitty was holding. It was the guild bag that we gave to all the apprentices. Teams of two, though, only got one so they'd learn to cooperate.

"It's a...llllot b-bigger, t-t-too...," Chikorita commented, looking kind of excited. "I b-bet it holds...mmmmore than mmmine does." She had a bag on her shoulder that she took off and put next to the other one to compare them. They looked exactly alike, except Chikorita's was smaller and in bad shape. And that meant that hers was also a bag from the guild.

I didn't think it mattered, since it _was_ just an old bag with a bunch of holes in it, but Chatot wasn't happy. "Chikorita, where on earth did you get that bag?" Chatot pointed at Chikorita's. "These are old bags from quite some years ago. I must know where you obtained it from." Then he held out one of his wings. "Please hand it over."

Chikorita got really upset about that. She started talking before I could tell Chatot to let her keep it. "I d-d-d-d-didn't ssssteal it from—from a-a-anyone! Rrrrea-really, I d-d-didn't!"

"Well, she said she didn't take it, Chatot," I told him before anyone could say anything else. Friends should not argue or fight! It makes everyone sad. "That settles it!"

Chatot wasn't happy about that. "But…Guildmaster…she could be lying! We must confiscate that bag and begin a full investigation!"

"That doesn't sound very fair," Skitty complained, sticking up for her new partner. Chatot just glared at her.

I trusted Chikorita. Chikorita was one of my new friends! I didn't need to take away her bag! So I just kind of ignored Chatot. He wouldn't be very happy about it later, but he'd get over it eventually! "All those are yours to keep...including your old bag. They'll really help you in your training!" Chatot did have a point, though. It _was_ weird that she had one of those bags...

Chikorita didn't even look up. "Thhh-…thank you."

Skitty added, "Yeah, thank you, Guildmaster! We'll do our best!"

"Yup, I'm sure you will!" I had to keep being cheerful, which wasn't hard for me anyway. Otherwise everybody would know that something, namely Chikorita's bag and Skitty's odd personality traits, was on my mind. "Show them where they will be sleeping from now on, won't you, Chatot?"

"If you insist," Chatot sighed. Then he glared at Chikorita. He really can be a big old grump sometimes. I don't know what to do when my friends are mad, so I just laughed and waved goodbye while they left. Chatot looked back at me, and I mouthed c_ome back after_. He nodded, shooting a significant glance in Skitty and Chikorita's direction, and then all three of them left the room.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought there was something strange going on. Chatot and I had a lot to talk about regarding those two.

* * *

**AN:/**

**So, turns out Wigglytuff and Chatot _both _think something weird is going on here! (Which is completely correct, of course.) This does not bode well for Kai, especially considering Wigglytuff's intrusion in all the commotion in the dorms in the last chapter...**

**I gotta say, writing as Wigglytuff is extremely fun. Very observant and yet appearing to everyone else like he has his head in the clouds all the time. I had so much fun with this chapter.**

**Review time!**

**HikariNoTenshi-San: The other apprentices probably would have talked about themselves, too, but they all got caught up in Kai's situation and forgot all about telling Kai and Rita about themselves. Then Wigglytuff came in and told everyone to go to bed, therefore ruining any possibility of going back to it. I figure they'll talk about all that behind the scenes unless I make somebody's background a plot point. And yeah, Rita is the epitome of "shy and quiet with a scary temper." Supposedly I do the same thing. My younger sisters are honest-to-goodness afraid to make me mad. XD As for couplings, that depends on what people are interested in seeing. I could see CharmanderxPikachu and LoudredxSunflora going somewhere, and I might put Kai and Rita together with others outside the guild, but I'm not sure yet. I dunno, I want to see what others think. Opinions?**

**And now for the Random Fact of the chapter!**

**Random Fact #14: **Chatot likes to eavesdrop. Since he can fly and go up into obscure corners of the ceiling where no one is likely to see him, it tends to work out well. The apprentices have yet to figure out exactly how he learns many of the things he does about their lives.

** * Took those lines directly from the game. They aren't mine.**


	15. Chapter 3, Part 1: The Scream

"_**YO! UP AND AT 'EM! IT'S MORNING! GET YOUR TAILS OUT OF BED!**_"

Just like any normal person would when being suddenly woken up by a loud, yelling and stomping Pokémon...I shrieked and promptly dove under the bed. Totally normal. Loudred, completely unfazed, thundered out of the room to wreak havoc on everyone else's morning.

"Ugh...g-good morning," I heard Rita greet me, her voice muffled through the stalks forming the frame of the bed. "Are y-...you o-...okay?"

I slowly backed out of my hiding spot, realizing my ears were still ringing. "You'd think he'd be just a _little_ quieter when it's barely dawn," I grumbled, glancing out at the pale light streaming through the solitary window. "Just a bit. I would be happy with just a _little_ less damage to my eardrums." I settled down to quickly smooth out my fur and Rita checked our bag to make sure we had everything we might need for the day. "Okay, ready to go?" I asked once I was finished.

"Mm-hm," Rita replied, nodding as she arranged the strap of the bag into its usual place around her stomach, looping it over her right shoulder and under her left foreleg for security. "Llllet's go!" It seemed she was a lot more cheerful than last night. I was glad.

We made it to the meeting just in time. Chatot went over some basic information, the Guildmaster was supposed to say hello but was apparently gorging himself on perfect apples instead, and we went through the morning cheers. Chatot sent us on our way, prompting excited cheering from the other apprentices, which I joined in on. This was actually a little bit fun...but, you know, just a little.

Before Rita and I had taken more than a few steps, the rest of the apprentices had zoomed off to wherever it is they go. They were kind of starting to concern me with their unearthly speed. Was _everyone_ in this guild weird?

"Okay...so, Rita...what do you think we should do today, since Chatot hasn't cornered us yet?" I asked, drifting towards the ladder.

"...Mmmmmaybe w-...we...shhhhould...g-go to the...j-job boards?" the Chikorita suggested, glancing around. "I...thhhhink...thhhat's...wh-...whe-...where e-everyone else w...went."

Before I got the chance to answer, someone else spoke up. "Oh, you two! Still wandering around aimlessly, are you?" Chatot hopped up to us, looking amused.

"Um...what is the _correct_ answer?" I asked, smiling innocently.

Chatot rolled his eyes and sighed. "Just come with me."

Chatot led us upstairs to, as we predicted, the job boards. However, instead of veering to the right after climbing up the ladder, we went to our left. He waited until we had caught up, and then gestured to the board he was standing next to. "Here we are."

"Um...Ch-Chatot?" Rita ventured hesitantly. "Ye-yesterday we...d-d-did a...j-job from the b-...board on the...other...ssssside of the rrrroom...rrrrright?"

"Correct!" Chatot chirped. "But today you'll be doing a job listed on this board."

"Is there a difference?" I asked, looking closely at the flyers hung at various angles. "How come some of these flyers have pictures on them?"

"Take a closer look!" Chatot invited, spreading one of his wings out towards them.

Rita and I stepped closer. The board was much taller than we were, but we could see the posters well enough. "Thhhhey're all describing...ccccertain P-Pokémon," Rita observed quietly. I'd have to take her word for it since I couldn't read footprint runes, which _everything_ was written in. It was _extremely _frustrating. "They look...rrrrrrreally...t-t-tough..."

"Are they explorers, Chatot?" I asked eagerly. "Like...really awesome famous ones, or something like that?"

Chatot shook his head. "No. The Pokémon listed here are outlaws." Rita and I both stared at him, shocked. "They are all shady characters wanted for criminal offenses."

"Really? They're _outlaws_?" I asked. This information was taking time to sink in. "There are an awful lot of them...," I observed nervously.

"Correct." Chatot nodded. "And all of these outlaws have bounties on their heads. In other words," he elaborated, noticing the lack of comprehension on our faces, "there is a reward for capturing one of them."

Something seemed off about this. "But why do you need _us_ to catch them?" I asked. "Isn't there someone who'd normally take care of that?"

"Yes. Officer Magnezone and his deputies, two Magnemite, would normally be searching for these Pokémon. However, there are so very many aggressive Pokémon cropping up these days that even Magnezone's police force is having difficulty keeping up with the problem." Chatot tapped the board with the tip of his wing. "Therefore, they employ exploration teams _like_ _you_," he emphasized, "to go and catch these _dangerous _and_ menacing_ Pokémon and bring them to justice."

"You w-...wa-...want us to...g-go and...c-c-_catch_ one?" Rita stammered, looking completely and utterly petrified. "G-go llllllooking for..._d-d-dangerous c-crooks_?"

"I'm with her on this!" I interjected, equally as anxious. If finding a stinking _pearl_ was difficult, then how could we _possibly_ take down a wanted criminal? He was crazy!

Chatot cracked up at the sight of our faces. "I'm only joking!" he told us when he could spare the breath. I glared darkly at him for apparently scaring us for his own amusement. "I won't send you after the _baddest_ of the bad. The Pokémon listed here come in all variations of villainy! There _are_ the truly wicked listed on this board, but there are also others who are merely petty thieves. Up here, we have evil, naughty, and all levels in between! I don't plan on sending you off after the most dangerous Pokémon listed here. Goodness, no!" He snickered to himself again. "So, take a look through these posters here and see if you can find one that looks weak enough for you to be able to capture!"

_Weak? _I thought to myself incredulously. _I want to take that as an insult...but...it's so true! We probably wouldn't be able to handle the _really_ bad guys. Ugh, it _kills_ me to admit that, even if it's just in my head._

He was about to leave us to it when Rita spoke up. "A-ah...Chatot? Y-you...sssssaid there are ssssome w-...weak...P-Pokémon...but...thhhey're ssssstill..._b-bad_ Pokémon...a-aren't they? I-I'm...sss_scaredofdangerousPokémon_," she whispered very quickly and very quietly. The only reason I could hear it was because I was standing next to her.

Chatot merely shrugged, having gotten the gist of Rita's statement. "Be that as it may, it's still a part of your training. You'll learn to work through your fears, I'm sure!" Then he paused, looking thoughtful. "However, you bring up a good point. I suppose you _do_ need to be prepared to confront a tough opponent. I'll have someone give you a tour of the facilities available to you." He turned towards the ladder. "Bidoof! Bidoof, come here!"

Huffing and puffing, Bidoof rocketed up from the lower floor in what had to be record timing. I was honestly shocked he didn't kill himself running up the ladder. "You...you called?" he gasped, stopping in front of Chatot.

"Ah, Bidoof!" Chatot nodded in our direction. "These are the two recruits who just joined us."

Bidoof smiled widely, already having caught his breath. "Yup yup! I know these two. We all talked yesterday, us and the others."

Chatot bobbed his head, clearly pleased. "Very good! You two—" Chatot turned to look at Rita and I. "Fostering relationships during your time here would be to your benefit. Now, Bidoof," he continued, spinning back around again to face the brown mouse Pokémon, "before we send them off hunting down an outlaw, kindly take these two off my wings and show them around the town."

"Yes sirree! Golly, I'll certainly do that! Yup yup!" Bidoof was almost _glowing_ with happiness over Chatot's orders. I wouldn't have been surprised if he spontaneously combusted or exploded out of joy right then and with that picture in my mind, I discretely edged away. Rita glanced over at me, but apparently my expression must have given away that I was thinking weird thoughts again because Rita just rolled her eyes ever so slightly and looked back over at Chatot and Bidoof.

Chatot, not to my surprise, turned to us and seemed to be going to say something. Then he seemed to realize that I wasn't next to Rita anymore. I guess he didn't see me at first (I _had_ moved a significant distance away) because he looked around a bit until he realized I was only a bit away and watching Bidoof like he was some sort of alien. He shot me a strange look of his own, and I quickly returned to my spot in order to avoid having to explain why I had moved in the first place. _Well, see, I was kinda worried that Bidoof was _so_ happy that he was going to blow up or burst into flames, and I didn't want to be in the line of fire._

I guess Chatot decided he just didn't want to know why, because he moved on without commenting. "Skitty, Chikorita—I want you to listen to anything Bidoof may have to say. Listen to his suggestions."

"Yes, sir," Rita and I both agreed.

"Good. Off you go! Keep an eye on them, Bidoof." With this final farewell, Chatot descended the ladder back down to the lower level.

Bidoof continued to stare at the spot where Chatot had disappeared. "Uh...Bidoof? Are you okay?" I asked, my eyes wide. "Is something wrong?" There was no immediate response. "...Are you _actually_ going to explode?" I asked worriedly.

This led to Rita shooting me the best "what drug are _you_ on" look of the century. Seriously, I thought it was hysterical and started laughing. Bidoof and Rita were probably just as concerned about me by now as I was about everyone else, but it really was funny. Especially since it was _Rita_ doing it.

Apparently too overcome by his own emotions to notice me laughing, Bidoof jumped and spun back around to face us. It startled me enough that I stopped laughing. His eyes were shining with what I hoped were _happy_ tears. "Golly, no, it's not about taking you to town!" he assured us, sounding a little choked up. "I'm glad to be taking you! It's just that it's great to have members junior to me! Before you all came, I was the newest apprentice. I'm so happy I might just start blubbering!"

We gave Bidoof a moment to compose himself. He finally straightened up, his eyes and voice much clearer. "Well, I'd better show you around. You've already seen the guild itself, right?"

"Nope," I replied, shaking my head. "Not yet."

Bidoof looked surprised. "Really? Gosh, I'd've thought they'd show you around right away! I guess we'll start downstairs first." He led the way down the ladder with Rita and me close behind. "First things first," he began once we were safely on the ground, "to the right is Croagunk's...uh...place." The Pokémon in question, close enough to hear the conversation, waved at us. "Although, to be honest with you, I have no idea what that Pokémon's up to," Bidoof added more quietly. "He's always fiddling with that cauldron of his. It's a mystery to me! Yup yup!"

I shrugged. Well, if nobody knew, then I'd just ask. "Hey, Croagunk? What do you do there?" Both Rita and Bidoof looked taken aback by my boldness.

Croagunk, on the other hand, just laughed. "Wouldn't you three like to know?" He turned back around, snickering to himself.

I shrugged. "Oh, well, it was worth a shot."

Bidoof stared at me like I'd grown a second head. "Gosh, that was brave of you, Skitty. I'd've never tried to ask him! He does some weird things sometimes..."

Bidoof then proceeded to point out the various points of interest in the guild, such as the mess hall, the guildmaster's chamber, and the rest of the bedrooms. "So what's next?" I asked when he had finished up.

Bidoof smiled. "Next I'll guide you around the places outside the guild."

"Okay. Lead the way!" I prompted, moving aside so Bidoof could walk past Rita and me.

Bidoof led us out of the guild and down to the crossroads. "Now, here you'll want to turn right to reach the town. If you all go left and walk far enough, you can get to most of the mystery dungeons. And if you keep going straight, you can walk right down to the beach and the Beach Cave dungeon. But you two know that one already, yup yup!"

We turned right, heading towards the town. Before we knew it, a beautiful and bustling town square was right before our eyes. "Wow!" I gasped, looking around at the lively area. Shops lined both sides of the path, which led to the town square we were standing in. I waved my tail excitedly, darting from one side of the circular clearing to the other. "This is incredible! I like it here!" Cue the holy-object music! This was an awesome town!

"Yup yup! So do I!" Bidoof agreed, tracking me with his eyes. "This is the main part of town."

"What's the town called?" I asked. "Does it have a name? Do Pokémon name their towns?" It wasn't until Rita nudged my side that I realized my slip-up. Oops.

"Of course it has a name!" Bidoof laughed. He hadn't seemed to catch my mistake, thankfully. "It's called Treasure Town."

"I...I can t-t-tell you about...T-Treasure Town...t-too..." I looked up at Rita, surprised. She looked a little embarrassed to be the center of attention again, but still she began her explanation. She pointed out various buildings, such as Duskull Bank, Marowak Dojo (which was in such a state of disarray I could hardly believe it was still standing), Electivire Link Shop (whose owner and namesake seemed to be missing), Kecleon Market, and Kangaskhan Storage. Rita turned back to Bidoof and me and blushed. "That's, um, thhhat's all the p-p-places most teams v-visit."

Bidoof nodded approvingly. "Gosh, Chikorita, you sure know a lot, yes sirree!" Rita nodded back, turning even pinker at the praise. "I'll bet you two want to get a good look around, so I'll leave you to it. Come find me when you come back to the guild! I'll give you a helping hand with picking an outlaw you can handle."

"Thank you, Bidoof!" I chimed in, grinning widely.

"Y-yeah...Y-you've been...rrrreally nnnice," Rita put in with a shy smile of her own.

Bidoof waved off the compliment, blushing. "Aw, shucks. You're embarrassing me, Skitty, Chikorita."

_Didn't Rita say that if you were friendly with someone, you could have them call you by your name?_ I thought to myself. "Kai. My name's Kai!" I exclaimed.

Rita glanced at me, surprised, but she followed suit. "I'm...Rrrrrita," she added.

Bidoof looked touched and slightly teary-eyed, again. "I, well, I'd like to tell you I have a name, but my mother has always called me Bidoof, so...that _is_ my name."

"That's okay, Bidoof!" I replied cheerfully. _I wonder if not having a different name is a big deal_, I, well, wondered.

Bidoof sniffled. "I, well, I'll be waiting on the upper underground floor when you get back. Bye, Kai and Rita." With a wave goodbye, he walked past us and back the way we came.

"Bye!" I called after him. Once he was gone, I glanced around at the shops. There were so many! "Hey, Rita, is there anywhere in particular you want to go?" I asked, turning my attention back to her.

Rita peered further down the path hopefully. "Well...um, I'd...rrrreally...llllike to...lllllook around at K-...Kecleon...Mmmarket," she admitted.

I nodded. "Okay. No problem!"

"Thanks, Kai," Rita replied with a smile. She led the way down the road, pointing out anything of interest—including some Pokémon—along the way. Since Rita had lived in Treasure Town before we joined the guild, it made sense that she would recognize some of the regulars around the plaza. The strange thing was, the more I learned about the town and mingled with the Pokémon who lived here, the more out-of-place I felt. I was excited to be in a real town, but it felt weird, interacting and talking with Pokémon in a kind of environment that I thought humans lived in. The kind of place that _I_ had probably lived in when I was human.

In addition to being so knowledgeable about the town itself, it seemed that Rita was already acquainted with the two Kecleon running the market. The two of them were busy sorting through things behind the counter when we approached. "Hhhhello?" Rita spoke up (rather boldly, compared to her usual crippling shyness). "Mmmmisters Kecleon?"

The first Kecleon, the green one, looked up. His eyes grew wide. "Well, well—Chikorita!" the green one announced with surprise when Rita stepped up to the counter. He nudged his brother. "Look who's turned up at last."

The purple Kecleon looked up curiously. "Chikorita? We haven't seen hide nor hair of you in days!" he commented, looking her over curiously. "You'll be buying from the regular stock, I assume?" At Rita's nod, he dove back into the store of items and emerged with an assortment of berries and seeds, which he set on the counter.

Rita smiled shyly. "I-I've been...b-busy...," she admitted, looking through the pile of items. "I f-finally...j-joined the g-g-guild." I blinked with surprise; she seemed unusually comfortable with the two Kecleon. But I guess she _would_ be, if she'd been living here her whole life.

Both Kecleon looked ecstatic. "At last! That's grand!" the green one exclaimed.

"I see. So that's where you've been hiding," the purple one commented, looking oddly pleased.

"Mmmm-hm. I j-joined with...sssssomeone else as a t-team." Rita turned back to face me, smiling. She looked much more relaxed than I've seen her in all the time we've known each other. "Thhhhese are the"—she struggled to get the word out for a moment—"K-Kecleon brothers."

"Hi!" I greeted them cheerfully.

It seemed the two Kecleon had only just noticed me when Rita pointed me out, because they both turned to look at me with surprise. "A Skitty! I haven't seen any Skitties around here in ages," the purple Kecleon commented.

"There haven't been any Skitties living in the area for years," his brother told me in response to the confused expression I was wearing. "The last ones moved away from town at least a decade ago."

"Oh," I replied for lack of any better response. Exactly what was I supposed to say to that, anyway? That's good? I'm sorry the other Skitties moved away? Thank you for noticing? Mercifully, I was saved from having to come up with a better reply when Rita finished up her shopping and paid for two apples and something she called a reviver seed. She was a really quick shopper, and thank heavens for that, because I didn't have the patience to stand around and wait.

"...Thhhhank you," she said to the two Kecleon with a shy smile.

"No need to thank us. This is our job, after all," the purple Kecleon replied with a dismissive shrug as he placed the items in Rita's bag for her. Before we could say our farewells, however, we were interrupted by a pair of squeaky, childish voices.

"Misters Kecleon!"

All of us turned to see who was speaking and immediately spotted the culprits: a Marill and an Azurill. The two tiny, spherical blue Pokémon were tripping over each other and even their own tails in their race to get to the stand first.

_You know, I must have seen a lot of Pokémon as a human_, I realized._ Otherwise I wouldn't recognize some of the ones I've met._

The green Kecleon laughed to himself as the kids approached. "Ah! Little Marill and Azurill! Welcome, my young friends."

Azurill reached the stand first, with Marill close behind him. "Hello!" Balancing on the sphere at the end of his tail, he peeked up over the edge of the counter and asked sweetly, "May I buy an apple, please?" His brother reached up and put some Poké on the counter.

"Certainly," the same Kecleon replied, gesturing for his brother to grab him a bag. He sorted through his stock when said bag was given to him and filled it; Rita and I exchanged a smile, noticing that Kecleon had put in an extra apple. He then placed it on the counter with a flourish. "Here you go."

Azurill grinned widely, all chubby cheeks and sunshine. His brother did the same and stepped forwards to take the bag. "Thank you, Misters Kecleon!" Marill thanked them in a sing-songy voice. He poked his brother in the side pointedly when Azurill didn't say anything.

"Ow," Azurill whined, flinching away from the contact. "...Thank you, Misters Kecleon. _Okay_, Ril? I said thank you."

"Only 'cause I told you to!"

"No, thank _you_, my young friends," the purple Kecleon said loudly to be heard over the impending squabble. "You're to be admired."

The two brothers looked surprised by the compliment but giggled and smiled even more brightly. They then darted off, waving goodbye. Both Kecleon waved back.

"Cute kids," I comment, smiling widely. I liked little kids. I secretly liked playing games with them, like hide-and-seek. Don't tell anyone, because usually it's not cool for almost-adults to play hide-and-seek willingly.

Rita was smiling, too, but she looked a little confused. "I've...nnnnnever…sssssseen them b-before. W...wh...who are…thhhhey?"

The two Kecleon turned to us. "It's not surprising that you don't recognize them," the purple one commented. "Their mother didn't allow them to them wander around town on their own until recently."

"You see, those delightful children are brothers," the green brother added.

"Lately their poor mother's been ill, so those two come and do the shopping for her," the purple Kecleon went on.

"It's quite remarkable," the green Kecleon added. "Though they're still so young, they've really stepped up and taken charge of things."

"Misters Kecleon!" Barely a second after the last word was out of his mouth, Marill and Azurill came racing up even faster than before. Both were panting, and little Azurill looked a bit dead on his feet. He was balancing one of the apples very carefully on his head and using his tail to hold it steady, since he didn't have hands (or was it paws?).

"Oh? What's the rush?" the green Kecleon asked, looking a little surprised.

"There...there was an extra...apple," Azurill wheezed out, moving close to the counter and indicating the apple on his head.

"We...didn't pay for...for this many!" Marill exclaimed, looking as guilty as if he'd stolen it.

Both Kecleon smiled. "That, my friends," the purple one began, "is a gift from me and my brother. Please share it among yourselves."

"Really?" Marill asked, his eyes shining happily.

"Yay!" Azurill shouted, dancing around. "Thank you, Mister Kecleon and Mister Kecleon!"

"Oh, not to worry, my friends. Now, take care on your way home," the green Kecleon prompted them.

"We will! Thank you again," Marill thanked them fervently. "Come on, Azure! Let's go show Mother what we got!" he added, beginning to lead the way back towards the town square.

"Okay!" Azurill agreed cheerfully. Apparently he decided to bounce back on his tail, because after wrapping the elastic part of his tail around the apple he held, he carefully clambered on top of the large sphere at the end and started to jump up and down, propelling himself forwards. He didn't get very far, though. "Yowch!" he yelped as he tumbled to the ground. The apple he had been holding slipped out of the grip of his coiled tail and rolled to a stop a few inches in front of me. I pulled it over to me. Other than a new bruise, it was fine. But was Azurill?

"O-oh!" Rita exclaimed worriedly. She hurried over to the fallen child. "A-are you…o-okay? D-d-do you…nnnneed any hhhhelp?"

"N-no...I'm fine," he muttered, pushing himself back onto his feet. The Kecleon brothers, who had started to come around the counter to offer their help, went back to their stations but still looked a little concerned. "But thank you for asking, Miss Chikorita." Azurill looked around. "Oh, no! Where did my apple go?"

"It's okay. I've got it," I told him, patting the apple to draw his attention to it. "It rolled over here when you fell."

Azurill hurried over. "I'm sorry to bother you, Miss Skitty," he apologized in a rush. Oh, boy. Being called "Miss Skitty" made me feel old. "Thank you very much!" He reached over to carefully take the apple out from under my paw.

In that instant, my vision flickered and my head started to feel funny. Azurill looked at me and smiled; his mouth moved, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. "What did you say?" I asked, but my stomach lurched with dread; I couldn't hear _myself_ speaking, either. My sight faded in and out again and I was mercilessly hit with a wave of dizziness that left me feeling sick to my stomach. My vision went fuzzy, shadows lurking at the edges, and it felt like I was straining to look down a tunnel. Another sickening dizzy spell washed over me.

_Everything went dark, but then a bright light flashed behind my eyes. I could hear talking as if in the distance, a low murmur I couldn't quite make out. I strained to try to catch the gist of what was going on, but I still couldn't make it out completely. Something about...being difficult...and big trouble..._

_All of a sudden, still with that distant quality, a tiny voice screamed:_

"_H-h...he...HELP!"_

* * *

**AN:/**

**And so begins Team Aster's next adventure, soon to be leading them into their second trip into the wilderness! I really love Azurill and Marill, by the way, so I am thoroughly enjoying writing them. They're such cute characters! What I am _not_ enjoying, however, is Kai's mysterious visions. I hate writing them. With a passion. This is an instance in which I think the game can portray what's going on better than I can with words. Please forgive me. -grovels-**

**There are a couple of things I'd like to say before we move on to reviews and thank yous and all. First off, at the top of my profile you will find a poll. This is a very important poll because in it you will be deciding which pairings/couplings will be portrayed in this story. I put every couple I could see happening/every popular couple (ex. HeroxPartner, GrovylexCelebi, LoudredxSunflora) I could think of into that poll. I would really appreciate it if everybody who reads this story would vote. You're the ones reading, so I think you should be the ones who who decide which couples make the cut. Vote for as many as you want. There is also an option called "Other" on this poll. If you want something other than what I've listed (which is completely encouraged), please DON'T pick that option and instead PM me or leave a review saying what you want or whatever. I put the instructions there because I'm sure some people don't finish reading the question before they answer. Anything you suggest will be put into the poll, so if you want something that's not listed there refrain from voting until the new option's up. The poll will be up for a while, and I'm not going to do anything other than hints for a while, so you have plenty of time to get your opinions in whether you're following this story as it updates or you're just beginning to read it. Secondly, it seems that I uploaded an old version of Chapter 0 Part 2. Look for the new one within a couple days or so. I revised my whole idea of human-Kai before posting the story here, so in this old version there's some information that contradicts what is actually going on. Oh, and thirdly, I have _NO_ idea what to do for Special Episode 3. No clue at all. I thought about having Charmander and Pikachu pull pranks on Team Aster, but I dunno if that would interest anyone. I also thought I could get the guild members' thoughts on the new team, but with that whole interrogation thing recently that might be overkill on their front. ****I _desperately_ need suggestions!**

HikariNoTenshi-San: **He does have a very random thought process, doesn't he? It's actually somewhat similar to mine. My sisters will often say something very simple to me like "I like cats," and I will come out with a reply like "you know, it's kind of odd how they just meow. Did you ever wonder why we can make eight billion sounds and they can just make meows and purring sounds? Oh, and Pokémon! How come they say their names over and over and over? It's completely unnatural!" XD Oh, and Wigglytuff is indeed intelligent. I'll tell you a secret: Wigglytuff (and Chatot, once they had their secret discussion) knows EXACTLY what's going on with Rita. He just hasn't outright said so. =]**

Sweet but Psycho: **Thanks for all the tips and corrections! I really appreciate it! By the way, I want Rita in stuffed toy version, too! I mentioned it out loud once and now my family thinks I'm nuts for wanting a plushie of my own fictional character. XD And you're right in saying you never saw the Chatot random fact in the game. One of my creative liberties...I should probably put somewhere that the random facts about in-game characters are not necessarily canon, just to make sure.**

**Also, I've been getting some favorites lately. To everyone who did, I'm honored that you like this story and I hope you'll continue to enjoy it. =] That goes to you two reviewers, too!**

**If you read that whole long author's note, you get a slice of my virtual birthday cake, because my birthday is tomorrow! Look forward to the next chapter, in which Kai freaks out, Rita gets stubborn, and Team Aster has their first major disagreement!**

**To go with the theme of birthdays, here's Random Fact #15: **Kai's birthday is July 19, but since she lost her memory and all she doesn't remember that. As for Rita, Pokémon in my story don't have years and months like humans do and go by seasons, so Rita would say she was born at the very beginning of spring. In the human calendar, Rita's birthday would be March 8.


	16. Chapter 3, Part 2: Being Stubborn

The entourage of sensations vanished just as quickly as they came. All of a sudden, I was back in control, still in the middle of Treasure Town handing Azurill his apple.

I quickly retracted my paw, alarmed. _What was that? What just happened? _I looked to the others, hoping to gauge what everyone else thought of the previous events...but weirdly, neither Azurill, the Kecleon brothers, or Rita seemed to have noticed anything. In fact, none of them were acting like any time had passed since Azurill and I were exchanging the apple. _What...? How could they not have heard anything? That is _not_ normal! I could have _sworn_someone just screamed! Someone...really young... _I stared at Azurill with wide eyes, my stomach lurching akin to the feeling of being dropped off a cliff. _Was it...you?_

Azurill stared back at me, tilting his head to the side and looking bewildered. "Is something the matter? Are you okay?"

I shook my head fiercely, hoping to dislodge the memory of my weird experience. "Yeah, I...um...I'm fine. I just...spaced out. Don't worry about it."

"Hey, Azu!" Marill shouted, coming back down the path empty-handed. "What's going on? Come on! Hurry up!"

"I'm coming! Just hold on a second!" Azurill called back over his shoulder. He turned back to me, smiling. "Thank you, Miss Skitty. Thank you, Miss Chikorita. Bye, Misters Kecleon!" A chorus of "you're welcome" and "goodbye" answered him. I absently added my own farewell, the sound of that horrible scream still lingering in the back of my mind.

Azurill hopped over to his brother, who checked that he was okay after his fall, and Azurill assured him that he was. "I already took the other apple home," Marill added, "so we can have this one and then go looking for our lost item!" Azurill cheered, and the two brothers wandered off, chattering among themselves.

Rita smiled, watching their progress. "Thhhhey're...rrrreally...c-cute kids," she said to me.

I jumped. "What? Oh...uh, yeah. They are," I stammered.

At this jumpy response Rita shot me a look of concern. "Are…a-are you...o-okay?" she asked slowly.

I sighed heavily."Um...I dunno. Rita, did you hear someone...shout for help, when we were giving Azurill his apple back?" I asked hesitantly.

"Huh? Nnnnno...I d-didn't hear...a-anything," Rita replied thoughtfully. "D-d-d-did...y-you, Mmmmisters K-...Kecleon?" she asked, looking over to them.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," the green brother replied thoughtfully.

The other shrugged. "I didn't hear anything either."

I frowned. "I really thought I did..."

"You...you mmmmmust have immm-...immmagined it...," Rita finally decided, though she sounded uncertain.

_Did I? _I wondered, looking down at my feet. _Did I really just space out or something? That scream—Azurill's scream—it sounded _real. _Really, really _real_. I couldn't have just imagined it, right?_

"...A-are you...d-d-daydreaming again?"

"Nope. Not daydreaming," I replied quickly, jerking my head up.

"Okay," Rita said doubtfully. "Llllet's head...b-back to the...g-guild, then..." She waved goodbye to the Kecleon brothers with her leaf. "B-bye...Mmmmisters Kecleon."

"Bye," I echoed softly.

"Farewell, Chikorita, Skitty! Come again," they replied with identical bows.

Rita and I walked in silence, me busy with my thoughts and Rita concerned about my continued lack of concentration on anything. After a minute Rita decided to take the lead. She'd never decided to take the lead herself before, but it was a very first that I didn't acknowledge. I was too absorbed in trying to figure out whether or not I was going crazy. I blindly followed her, trusting her to lead us to the guild.

"...K-Kai? Ssssomething's...g-g-going on...o-over...thhhhere." I blinked and looked up at the sound of Rita's voice. We were just approaching the edge of the town square. Ahead of us and to the left, just outside the dirt clearing, Marill and Azurill were talking to a Drowzee. The two kids seemed absolutely ecstatic. Azurill was shouting "yay!" over and over and doing a little happy dance, and Marill was only somewhat more restrained.

"Thank you!" Marill's voice carried over to us.

"Please!" The Drowzee spoke much more softly and calmly than the children, making his words more difficult to hear from where we stood. "It's nothing, really."

Watching the scene gave me an inexplicable feeling of uneasiness. I didn't know why, but I felt like I needed to do something about it, so I walked up to the group with Rita following. "What's going on here?" I asked, happily butting my way into the conversation. Proper etiquette would be to apologize for interrupting, but I wasn't actually sorry, so what would be the point?

"Oh! You're the ones who helped me at Kecleon Market!" Azurill exclaimed, looking up at us. He turned to his brother. "Miss Skitty and Miss Chikorita are really nice," he explained eagerly. "They helped me when I fell and dropped the apple."

Five minutes did not change the way I felt about being called Miss Skitty. It still made me feel old. I didn't say anything about it, though, because I _was_ older than them and it might have been another one of those name customs I was not supposed to challenge.

"Oh! Well, if you know them, then that's okay." Marill smiled and began to explain, with wild gestures accompanying every word he said. "See, a while ago we lost this item that's pretty important to us. We've been looking _ev-'ry-where_ for it," he enunciated. "But we hadn't found it yet. But then"—he turned to look at Drowzee, beaming excitedly—"Mister Drowzee told us that he may have seen our lost item somewhere! He even offered to help us look for it! So we're really happy!" he added with a little bounce to prove his point.

Rita nodded, smiling widely. "Thh-...thhhat's...rrrrreally great."

Azurill bounced around some more. "Thank you, Mister Drowzee!" he exclaimed for what I can only assume must be the billionth time.

To Drowzee's credit, the enthusiasm of the two brothers didn't seem to bother him. "Oh, please," he dismissed the thanks, "I'd have to be heartless to ignore two little kids in need. I can't just ignore something like that!" He nodded to us as his signal that he was leaving. "Now, let's be on our way to begin the search!"

"Yes!" Azurill cheers excitedly. "Goodbye, Misses Skitty and Chikorita!" he added as he darted out of the square.

"Bye!" Marill called back to us, running after his younger brother.

Drowzee followed them at a much more sedate pace. As he walked by, he stumbled over an exposed tree root and bumped into my side. "Whoops! Excuse me," he apologized, but kept walking to catch up with the kids.

Darkness invaded my line of sight. _Again? _I asked myself as a weird pressure in my head made itself known. Drowzee was walking away, but in slow motion. I looked towards Rita and saw her talking (again, in slow motion), but I couldn't hear her. With the second flickering of light came the same dizziness and nausea. _It's all the same…but it's happening faster than before. Why is this happening to me? _Everything blurred and the scope of my vision began narrowing.

_The same bright light flashed and my head felt the same awful pain. This time, everything sounded clearer, and…I could see, too! It was a lot like looking out of the wrong end of a telescope, but I could see! What I could see was a cave, dimly lit. Two figures were standing at the back of it. One was tiny and blue and had big, round ears. It was hard to tell exactly who it was with this wrong-end-of-a-telescope vision, but it looked like…Marill or Azurill! Probably Azurill, because Marill had a white stomach, and this Pokémon didn't. Azurill was quaking with fear._

_The second Pokémon was massive compared to Azurill. It was mostly yellow, brownish-black from its waist down, with a trunk for a nose. It was Drowzee, towering over the tiny Pokémon threateningly. "If you keep being difficult, it'll mean big trouble for you!" The growled threat shocked me. Drowzee had been so nice to the kids back at the square! What was going on?_

_Azurill just stood there, his shaking becoming more pronounced. "H-h…he…HELP!"_

Suddenly I was back. Drowzee was gone, but Rita and I were in the same place we had been. The Chikorita was still commenting on how great it would be if the kids found their item soon, but I was more focused on the fact that _somehow, _I had seen Drowzee and Azurill _at a moment I was pretty sure hadn't happened yet. _Really, really freaky, and if it's true, really, really _bad_.

"K-...Kai?"

I almost jumped out of my skin when Rita spoke again. "Aah! Oh, uh, Rita! H-hi!"

Rita frowned. "Y-you've...b-been acting...rrrrreally...f-funny...sssssince we lllleft...K-…Kecleon Mmmmarket…."

I turned to face her. "Rita, I have to tell you something!" I quickly blurted out, almost dragging her to the side of the square.

"Wh-...wha-...what?" Rita squeaked, looking further panicked by my weird behavior.

"You know how I started acting weird after I gave Azurill his apple?" I asked. I plowed on without giving her a chance to answer. "I had this weird dizzy spell and everything went dark, and I heard someone talking and then Azurill screaming for help, but when I could see again, none of you had noticed anything and no time had passed!" I gasped in a breath. "And then, when Drowzee bumped into me, the same thing happened, only faster, and this time I heard the same thing, just clearer, and I could _see_ it happening, too! Drowzee had cornered Azurill in this mountainous place, and he was threatening him, and that's when Azurill screamed for help. We have to go and save Marill and Azurill, Rita!"

Rita wasn't sure how to respond. "I...uhm...thhhhat's...a-are you...sssssure?" she finally asked.

"Well, no, not completely," I admitted. "I can't be really, _really_ sure, since it's just a...well, I don't know what it is, but anyway, if it _is_ true then this is, like, an emergency! So hurry up! We have to go,_ right now_!" I insisted, shifting my weight from one side to the other anxiously.

Rita, however, wasn't as quick to agree. "W-...we can't just...g-go off and...nnnnnot...t-t-tell a-anyone...," she pointed out, averting her gaze.

I couldn't believe my ears. "Azurill is in _danger_, Rita! We _have_ to go!"

Rita looked down at her feet, turning crimson. "I...I b-believe...that y-you...thhhhink Azurill's in...t-t-trouble"—ah, crap. I didn't like where this was going—"a-and it—it _issss_ weird, w-what...hhhhappened to you...b-but...but, um...hhhhow c-can you be...sssssso...ssssure it's rrrrreal?"

I bristled. "So...what, you think I'm lying?"

"Nnnnnno!" Rita's face grew redder still. "I...d-don't thhhhink you're...l-_lying!_ Y-you rrrrreally...b-believe w-...what...what you're ssssaying. I-...it's jjjust that…D-Drowzee sssseemed...ssssso nnnn_nice_! And Mmmmarill went...w-with them...rrrrremember? Wh-...why wasn't...hhhhe in your...v-vision?"

"I don't _know _why I didn't see him, Rita!" I burst out with frustration. "Maybe Drowzee ditched him somewhere. Maybe he's disposing of him or his brother while we stand here and argue!" Rita gasped at that thought. Duskull, at his bank close by, looked over at us curiously, clearly wondering what the matter was. I _was_ being kind of loud, wasn't I? I lowered my voice but plowed on with the same intensity. "I can't just wait around and see what happens. It might just end up being a really realistic and really creepy daydream, and I _really_ hope it is, but if it isn't, I don't want to carry the guilt around with me forever, knowing I could have tried to do something about it!"

Rita was visibly shaken after getting snapped at, but she continued to hold her ground. "B-but...w-we're _apprentices_! W-...we c-c-can't just w-...wander off...whenever we want. B-Bidoof is...sssstill w-...waiting ffffor us...t-to p-pick a job. We ha-...have to stay and...d-do our w-work, or w-...we...we'll be in...b-big t-t-t-trouble! They...mmmmmight even...k-kick us out!"

I hesitated; this was a valid point. I couldn't afford to be kicked out. My whole life was pretty much dependent on remaining in the guild. But how could I just forget about Azurill? I shook my head firmly. "I'm sorry, Rita, but I _have_ to go. I just—I can't _stand_ the idea of leaving it up to fate."

"Y-you...d-d-don't even...knnnnow where you're...g-g-going!"

"I'll figure it out!"

Rita and I locked gazes for a moment. Her glare was just as fierce as mine, but in the end, she looked away and sighed. "F-fine...I c-can't stop you," she admitted reluctantly. "B-but...I-I can at least...c-cover for you..."

* * *

**AN:/**

**Here you see how stubborn _both_ of our two heroes can be. -rolls eyes- They really can really irritate each other over big issues, apparently. They were kind of irritating _me_, and I get the impression they could have gone on a lot longer if Rita hadn't given up...**

**Okay, so Rita's Special Episode is fixed and I put up the fixed version of Kai's mysterious-voice interview. We should be all good.**

**Reviews!**

Sweet but Psycho**: Nope, the username thing actually wasn't intentional. I didn't even know there was a song by that title, but I'll take it as ironic. I'm not very good at dancing. XD Hm...I don't want to make Croagunk creepy/a druggie...I'd better put some serious moment in there for him. And about that "well, wondered thing"...I know Kai and Rita's characters well enough that I have a Kai-voice and Rita-voice in my head (great, now I sound mental), and when I was writing that part the Kai-voice started screaming at me "OH OH PUT A 'WELL' THERE BECAUSE IT WOULD BE SO FUNNY HA HA HA HA." Sadly, Kai thinks some weird things are funny, and since she's the narrator...I might go back and take it out. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions for the special episode!**

HikariNoTenshi-San**: Rita doesn't say it outright, since the both of them are caught up in their argument and all, but she's _extremely_ concerned and wondering if she needs to let any of the higher-ups know about this. XD**

Mystery-Bright**: First off, I am really impressed that you went though every single chapter and reviewed it, and that most of it was was done only yesterday. No, in this story Pokémon don't need to forget moves. It makes sense for the games, but not "real life." Also, I can assure you that Rita's father is no one introduced in the games, and judging from your comment I'm not sure I actually _want_ to know what you were thinking...I'm not exactly sure where Chatot was during the little guild dorm meeting. Wigglytuff has his bedroom-thing, but poor Chatot's got nothing. XD He probably sleeps in the rafters like a bat. XD Ooh, we've got the makings for a Kai's-active-imagination joke there!**

**And now, for the coveted Random Fact of this chapter, Random Fact #16: **I'm watching Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide right now. XD This fact actually is random. On that note, the actual fact is that Kai likes to dance in the rain.


	17. Chapter 3, Part 3: Race Against Time

_Cover for me?_ I stared at Rita, completely stunned by her offer. It seemed so...out of character! Her refusal to chase after something that may or may not be real clearly showed that she preferred playing by the rules, and that _not_ doing so was just something she would never consider. If she gets caught working on her own, that's it for us, and I think she knew that. And yet, here she was...offering to cover for me.

Rita glanced down at her feet. "Lllllet's go...t-t-t-talk to B-Bidoof and...g-get our job. I-I...c-can t-take care of the...o-o-outlaw"—she shuddered involuntarily—"w-...while you...g-go after...Azurill. It'llll...lllllook...lllike w-we're...b-both out...d-d-d-doing the j-j-job."

"Rita, are...are you sure you want to do that? I thought—" I paused, thinking of how best to nicely word _you're completely _terrified_ of hunting down an outlaw._ "I thought you didn't really want to go after the outlaw, especially by yourself." _There, that's good._

"I-I don't," Rita stammered nervously, "b-but...if you...rrrrrreally...nnnneed mmme to...I will. B-because," she headed off my impending question, "w-...we...we're f-friends...rrrrrright?"

I felt my face flush with shame. _ Oh boy..._That_ line, right after I finished freaking out on her? Now I feel guiltier! _"I...well, yeah, of course," I replied, joining her in staring at the ground. "I, um...I'm sorry I yelled at you. Things like this make me mad. Nobody deserves to be tricked or used. I wasn't mad at _you _or anything..."

Amazingly, Rita looked up and smiled. She brushed off the apology with a quiet, "Th-that's okay...I'm ssssorry for...y-yelling at..._you_."

"I yelled at you first. you were just standing your ground, and that's good. And it's really not okay that I freaked out on you," I added, "but I don't think I'm going to get anywhere with pushing the apology..." I sighed. "So...I guess we'd better put that plan of yours into action—but only as long as you're _really sure_ you're okay with it!" I insisted.

"It'sss...f-fine," Rita replied in a falsely cheery and very high-pitched voice. She started to walk off stiffly. "Lllllet's...d-do it..."

Well, that was that. I sighed. _You're a really bad liar, Rita..._

I felt bad making Rita do this when she was clearly freaked out by the very idea of going outlaw-hunting on her own—I really did—but there wasn't any time to argue. She had offered and Marill and Azurill's safety might be depending on it. We hurried to the guild as quickly as we could. After clearing security, we rushed down to the bulletin boards where Bidoof was waiting.

"Oof!" Bidoof exclaimed as Rita and I barreled across the room towards him. He backpedaled to avoid getting run over. "Golly, what's all the rush?"

"I...um...we're...excited!" I lied, panting heavily. Not a particularly good lie, mind you, but it'd do.

"Um, okay...," Bidoof replied, looking at us curiously. "Then let's pick ourselves a lawbreaker for you to find." Turning to the bulletin board next to him, he informed us, "You've got your pick of this sorry bunch of characters."

"I...K-Kai...w-...whi-...which...sssshould...w-...we p-p-pick?" Rita asked helplessly, gazing with wide eyes at the vast array of choices. It looked like a lot of posters had been taken down and the outlaws listed on them presumably being hunted down already, but there were still many to choose from.

"I dunno," I murmured back. Some of the Pokémon displayed on these posters looked downright menacing, and Rita seemed to be panicking even more as she noticed this. "Hey, Rita. How about we look for a Caterpie? Caterpie should be easy to beat up, right?"

"...Huh?" Rita asked, sufficiently distracted from her freak-out session.

"Caterpie!" I repeated extremely happily. "You know, the little buggies that eventually evolve into Metapod and then Butterfree? They might be easy to take down. Just smoosh 'em like a bug—literally!"

"I don't think there are any outlaw Caterpie," Bidoof commented. "I certainly haven't heard of one."

I ignored this and happily kept on rambling. "Or I could _eat_ the Caterpie!" Then I paused. "Ew, I take it back, I don't wanna eat a bug." After a moment's pause I started back up again. "Well, actually, I wonder if it tastes good. Like pie! Cater-P-I-E, get it? The word 'pie' is in there? That's a _really_ bad joke, and the P-I-E in Caterpie doesn't sound like the word pie so my joke sucks, but it entertains me to see people's reactions to it."

Rita sent me a look of extreme concern. "Um...K-Kai...are you o-okay?"

"Golly, is she listening?" Bidoof wondered out loud.

Now to finish my routine. Very, very seriously, and with a very, very solemn expression on my face, I asked, "Have _you_ ever had pie, Rita?"

Bidoof, looking very confused, cleared his throat. "I, um—as your mentor, how about _I_ do the choosing?" From anyone else, I would have taken it as a reminder of rank, but from Bidoof I doubted it was much more than wanting to be helpful. Or an attempt to stop my rambling. Speaking of my rambling...I was just making all this take longer, wasn't I?

...But I couldn't resist putting the icing on the cake. "Oh, right! Of course!" I smiled brightly. It served to further confuse all involved. "Sorry. Go riiiight ahead."

"I-I...um...p-p-please d-d-don't...ch-choose anyone...t-t-_too_ ssscary...," Rita pleaded, already forgetting about my distraction attempt. All that work for nothing.

"Yup yup, I hear you!" Bidoof laughed. "Now, let's see...eenie, meenie—"

Just as I started to question the efficiency of his method of mission-choosing, a voice called out from...behind the board? "Stand clear! Updating listings! Stand clear! Updating listings!" _Great, just what I needed—an interruption! _I sighed to myself._ Come on, fate, work with me here! A little kid might be in trouble! _(Of course, considering I had just spent my time babbling about Cater-pie, that was kind of hypocritical, but at the time I wasn't really thinking about that.)

Rita yelped and jumped well away as the board began to rattle. Bidoof and I followed her at a much more sedate pace. "W-...wha-...what's that? Wha-what's g-g-going on?" she asked frantically.

"Oh, the data's just getting updated," Bidoof said with a shrug. "It's no big deal."

"U-updated?" As if to answer her, the board suddenly flipped over with a loud clacking noise, showing its wooden back. Rita squeaked. "D-d-did you...sssssee that? It just f-...flipped o-over!" She frantically waved her leaf at the board. "W-...wha-...what's g-going on?"

I fidgeted impatiently while Bidoof chuckled and started to explain how the job listings were updated every day. _I don't care about how the job bulletin board and the outlaw notice board are on revolving panels or how Dugtrio swaps out the information! _I mentally complained. _Well, actually, I _would_ like to know how Dugtrio does this without hands...but right now, we need to get Rita a job so I can go and look for Azurill and Marill! _It came as such a relief when Dugtrio shouted, "Update complete! Stand clear!" and flipped the board back over.

"Yes sirree! The data's updated," Bidoof trilled as he approached the board. There were definitely a lot more posters on it. "So, let's pick one." He started rifling through the wanted posters at the bottommost corner of the board.

Suddenly, Rita let out a strangled squeak. I turned to look at her. Her whole body was shaking and she was staring with complete and utter horror at one spot on the board.

"Rita...are you okay?" I asked, feeling the fur along my spine and on my tail stand on end. Seeing Rita so freaked out was making _me_ freak out.

Bidoof glanced over at my question and noticed the state Rita was in. "Huh? What's wrong? You're shaking...It's not cold in here, is it?"

Rita shook her head fiercely. "Nnnnnno...th-...that's not...!" She trailed off and finally turned to look at me.

I almost panicked at the utter terror on her face. I felt my heart start thumping away a mile a minute. "Rita? What's wrong? You're kind of freaking me out here!"

She took a deep, shuddering breath and began to speak in a very high-pitched voice out of terror. "K-Kai...llllllook at this!" Turning towards the board again, she pointed with her leaf towards the poster in question. "Th-...the one...a-at the...t-t-t-top...llllleft c-corner!"

I squinted to see the poster she was indicating. I couldn't read anything it said (footprint runes again), but there was a drawing of the Pokémon's upper body in the center. The figure was stout with a wavy transition from yellow to brown at his middle, with a long...trunk for a nose...

Instead of pounding harder, my heart seemed to stop beating altogether.

_Oh, no...I was hoping I _wasn't_ right!_

"I-...it's...D-d-d-drowzee!" Rita choked out. "Y-you w-...were rrrright, Kai—h-he's a...w-...w-wanted...c-criminal!"

I took a shaky breath, squeezing my eyes shut as if I could block out the reality of it all. "Oh, god. Oh, no. I was hoping I was wrong! He's a _criminal_?"

_I didn't even consider that he might be a criminal! _I thought to myself worriedly. _I...I guess it makes sense...but he's...he might be more than I can handle! With the proof right in front of me, that he's someone dangerous, I have to wonder if I could even make a difference. As Rita pointed out, we don't even know where Drowzee _took_ the kids!_

I felt someone poke my shoulder, and I opened my eyes to see that it was Rita, and she looked really frustrated. I hoped it wasn't directed at me. "C-come on! W-...we...hhhhave t-t-to go! Azurill and Marill...Thhhhey'll...b-be in...d-d-d-danger!"

..._Right. That's right. No time for sulking! _I straightened up and shook myself fiercely, forcing my fear away. "Right. Let's go, and fast!" As we raced off towards the ladder, I glanced over my shoulder and called to Bidoof, "Thanks, Bidoof, but we just found our job!"

I heard him shout something back, but by that time Rita and I were halfway up and out of the guild, so I couldn't make out what it was. "H-...how are...w-...we...g-going to...f-figure out...w-...where...to...g-go?" Rita asked me as we charged down the hillside.

"I don't know," I replied, putting on some more speed. "I saw a mountain in my...uh...dream thing...but I don't know where it is. We probably should have looked at that poster more closely!" I lamented. Oh well, too late for that now. "Let's ask around town. Somebody must have seen Drowzee and the kids leave!"

We'd reached the bottom of the hill by that point, but before we could head in the direction of Treasure Town, I heard Rita exclaim, "O-oh! Mmmmmarill!"

I ground to a halt and quickly glanced over to where she was looking. Marill, gasping for breath, was staggering our way. I felt my heart twist with fear when I noticed his uneven steps; if he was hurt because I hadn't acted earlier, I'd never forgive myself. "D-...d-do you...th-think he's...okay?" I heard Rita ask worriedly.

"Let's go check it out," I replied with equal, if not more, concern. We both made a beeline for him. "Marill!"

He looked up at the sound of his name. I was amazed by the complete relief that washed over his face when he saw us. "Miss Chikorita! Miss Skitty!" As we approached him, he hurried up to us and instantly stood on tiptoe and flung his arms around my neck. I froze at the contact. _Ah, darn it, Rita, why can't _you_ be the one with cuddly fur? I'm _so_ not the right kind of person for this hugging and comforting stuff..._

Rita looked as surprised as I was and said nothing, so I resigned myself to my fate of being comforter and interrogator. I don't usually do this whole consoling thing, but Marill _was_ scared...um, I mean, I'm _not_ a sucker for scared and/or crying kids. I'm _really_ not. I just...It would be mean to ignore him, that's all. I crouched down awkwardly so Marill could at least stand properly while he continued to hug the daylights out of me. "Um...Marill, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"N-no," he replied in a muffled voice. "I'm fine. Only my side hurts from running."

"Um, okay...that's good. Uhmmmm...what happened? I thought you went with...Drowzee." I made a _massive_ effort to keep any trace of bitterness out of my voice while I named the coldhearted crook who'd _tricked two innocent kids into following him to some **Arceus-forsaken mountain**_! Oh, no, I'm _clearly_ not bitter at all.

Marill didn't detach himself from me, but he did begin to explain. "I...after we left, we went looking for our lost item...but Mister Drowzee took Azurill somewhere and I wound up all alone." He clung on even tighter and I struggled to continue breathing. "I c-called and called for them, b-but they didn't come back! I got s-scared, and s-so I ca-came back here to ge-get help..."

"Oh, no," I heard Rita whisper behind me.

Still, Marill wasn't quite finished. "It's m-my fault. Azu got ta-taken away by M-Mister Drowzee be-because of m-me!"

"That's...not true...," I wheezed out. "_Drowzee_ tricked you...into s-staying behind...and Azurill into...coming with him." Or, well, that's what I'd pieced together from my dream-things and Marill's not-so-descriptive account of the situation. "It's _his_ fault!"

"But I still let Azu go."

I just sighed. I could see that nothing I could say was going to help.

Rita piped up for the first time. "Um...Mmmmarill...w-...we can...hhhhelp f-find him."

Okay, except for that. That could help. This statement startled Marill enough for him to finally release me. He took a couple steps back, wiping teary eyes. "Really? How?" he asked with a trembling voice.

Straightening up and inhaling deeply, I shrugged and offered him a lopsided smile. "We're an exploration team, Marill." I gestured to the badges pinned to Rita's bag. "It's our job to rescue other peo—Pokémon, and it sounds like your brother could use some rescuing."

"Then...you can help me find Azu?" he asked, with a trace of hope creeping into his voice.

"Right! You just have to show us where Drowzee took you, okay?" I prompted. "Do you remember how to get to where he took you?"

Marill took a deep breath. "Uh-huh. I can show you. Thank you, Miss Skitty and Miss Chikorita." He smiled at both of us and hurried back down the path he'd come from. "Follow me!"

It was a good half an hour race to the spot Marill had been abandoned at—probably forty-five minutes walking distance, but we were running full-speed the whole time. There was no time to waste; it had taken Marill at least that long to get back to Treasure Town, plus the time he'd waited in vain for Drowzee and Azurill to turn up, and that meant they'd have a good head start on us. Still, with a very young child in tow, Drowzee wouldn't be able to make his way around the mountain very quickly at all. Heaven only knows how he managed to drag the two kids up this mountain in the first place; Rita had to give Marill a lift for the last half of the walk.

"That's it!" Sliding off Rita's back and onto the ground, Marill pointed to an ominous-looking cavern in the side of the mountain. "Mister Drowzee took Azu in here."

Rita moved closer to the cave and looked very unsettled upon trying to see into its depths. "K-Kai...th-...this is a...mmmmystery d-dungeon!" she worriedly pointed out, whispering in an effort not to get Marill any more worked up than he already was. I just nodded. I'd noticed the way the dark hole was rippling.

"You definitely saw them go in here?" I asked Marill.

"Definitely!" he insisted.

Rita's face fell. "...Y-you really d-did see D-Drowzee and Azurill," she murmured under her breath. "Th-this mmmmust be the...mmmmountain you...mmmentioned seeing..."

"Y-yeah...," I murmured, peering into the depths of the cave. I still couldn't see anything except weird rippling darkness, but there wasn't time to brood about the fact that we'd be chasing someone into unknown territory. Judging from the information I'd picked up from Rita, though, as long as the two were still in there the dungeon would manifest in the exact same form Drowzee and Azurill had found it in, meaning that we could still catch up. "Okay," I announced, squaring my shoulders, "time to get going. Marill, you can—"

"I'm coming with you!" I blinked and looked over my shoulder. Marill was towards us with a determined look on his face. "I _have_ to make sure Azu is okay."

_Ohhhh, no, you don't_, I wanted to say, however harsh it might seem._ Not by following us into a _mystery dungeon_, of all places._

Rita looked just as concerned about this declaration as I felt. "Mmmmaybe y-...you should...g-go home...Mmmarill. I-...it c-could be...d-d-d-dangerous..."

The little Pokémon pulled a face that usually preceded the I-am-going-to-do-as-I-like-and-you-can't-stop-me speech, but I cut across him before he could begin. "Marill, I know you'd like to come with us, but you just can't. We can't risk bringing a kid like you into a mys—a dangerous place like this," I quickly corrected myself.

"D-d-drowzee's a rr-...rrrreally mmmmean...P-p-pokémon. W-...we...we d-don't...want...want you t-t-t-to...g-g-get hhhhurt," Rita added.

Judging by his even more stubborn expression, our words were doing little to change his mind. "You know, Marill, you'd be doing us a huge favor if you'd go back home," I quickly improvised. "Someone's got to let your family know what happened to your brother and that Team Aster is going to save him." Actually, that was true. "Do you think you could let everyone know for us? Then you can wait at the guild for us to come back with Azurill, okay?" I paused. "Actually, Rita, do you think these badges could send another Pokémon to the guild if we wanted them to? Like, on their own, not just with us?"

Rita blinked. "I...I g-guess ssssso."

I nodded. "Then let's do that. Okay, Marill? Tell anyone at the guild who asks that Chikorita and Skitty sent you, let your family know what's going on, and then go back into the guild when you're done. We'll bring Azurill there when we stop Drowzee."

Marill frowned thoughtfully. "Would that really help you?" he asked after some hesitation.

"It would help us a whole lot," I insisted.

"Well...okay...," he slowly agreed. His head snapped up as he added forcefully, "But come _right there_ when you save Azurill. Promise me!"

"W-...we...p-p-promise," Rita replied with an amused smile. Touching the badge clipped to her bag, it glowed blue, and she gave her orders to the weird voice that spoke in her head. _Jeez, we must look like we're _mental_ talking to these things_, I thought to myself as I watched Rita having what looked like a one-sided conversation. A light flashed, Marill vanished, and after a minor heart attack I realized Rita must have successfully sent him to the guild. "A-are you...rrrrready to...g-g-go...K-Kai?" she asked, stepping up to the very edge of the cave's entrance.

I shrugged. "As I'll ever be," I replied. We both took a deep breath and took our first steps into the dungeon.

* * *

**AN:/**

**Helloooo, everyone! I know this chapter is a long time in coming, but you do _not_ want to know the specifics of what kept me away from the computer. Suffice it to say that a friend of mine has invaded my privacy in a _major_ way, and following this revelation was a very long period of arguing, in which _multiple_ parties had to get involved. So you see why I was really not in the mood to work on this story.**

**That Cater-pie joke? Yeah, I've done that in real life. I got about the same reaction as Kai.**

**Don't forget the pairings poll is still up and running! To those five people who voted, thank you so much! Whether or not you're among them, I'm sure you're interested in seeing just what the current standings are.**

**Let's address everyone's favorite exploration team first, shall we? At the moment, no one has suggested and/or voted for anything besides RitaxOC, so Rita is firmly set as getting a custom-made boyfriend. Yay for Rita! As for Kai, right now KaixGrovyle is in the lead, followed by a tie between KaixOC and KaixWigglytuff. Yay! Kai's love life is getting interesting~**

**Moving on from Kai and her variety of potential lovers, we're off to address popularity. GrovylexCelebi and LoudredxSunflora both have four votes. I'm not particularly shocked by this since those two options are always mega-popular. CharmanderxPikachu also has four votes, and that did surprise me. RitaxOC and GrovylexKai both have two votes. (You guys really want me to hook Grovyle up with someone, don't you?) KaixOC, WigglytuffxChatot, WigglytuffxKai, ChatotxOC, and DusknoirxOC all have one vote. Everything else has nada.**

**Reviews!**

Mystery-Bright**: Oh, Chatot will find out. He finds out everything. Fortunately, the outcome may not be as bad as you think. And hopefully this chapter's Random Fact meets your expectations!**

Sweet but Psycho**: -holds hands up in surrender- I give. You are obviously my favorite. Sorry, everyone, my choice has just been made for me! XD Kai also likes to swim in the ocean, if you'll recall. She also opted to jump in a well instead of bathing. Dancing in the rain is so insignificant compared to the oddness of that. XD **

HikariNoTenshi-San**: Actually, I discovered during this long argument I mentioned at the beginning of this author's note that I do that whole shy-person-goes-rabid-when-angry thing. The person I was yelling at was completely shocked. XD**

adventurerXD**: Thanks for the encouragement! I'm glad you like it so far! I'm also glad you enjoyed my weird scenarios. XD**

**Random Fact time! Are you ready? Should I build up the excitement by delaying the inevitable? No? It's too pointless? Oh well. Random Fact #17 is this: **Human-Kai went through a phase in which she thought the word "hi" was hysterically funny. Unfortunately, Grovyle did not appreciate it. At all.

**Human-Kai: **Hey Grovyle? :)  
**Grovyle:** Oh Arceus what now  
**Human-Kai: **...HI! :DDDD -collapses in hysterical laughter-**  
****Dusknoir: **OH, IS THAT THE HUMAN GIRL I HEAR LAUGHING, LEADING ME DIRECTLY TO HER?1?  
**Grovyle: **Kill me now...


	18. Chapter 3, Part 4: We're Superheroes!

The cave wasn't as dark as it looked like it would be. In fact, it was almost like daylight inside. I looked up and spotted sunlight streaming in from a hole in the ceiling. The floor was cold, solid rock, and the walls around us were actually made up of stone spikes. A couple tunnels led to other rooms that I could just make out through the other end; you'd think it'd be difficult to see down a very long tunnel, since they're supposed to be dark and all, but weirdly enough these were as brightly lit as the room. (This was, we discovered later, because that hole in the ceiling was _always_ directly above us, even in the tunnels. Remember that holy light from the Guildmaster's sacred window? I foooooound it!)

"Oh, no!" The quiet gasp from Rita drew my attention and I whipped my head around to see what the matter was. Rita was staring at a wall. A completely solid wall that we seemed to have just walked out of. "Thhhhe e-...entrance isss...g-gone!"

"The dungeon completely _erased_ the way out?" I nervously asked. This was bad; the same thing happened in Beach Cave and Drenched Bluff, but it wasn't like this place was relatively close to Treasure Town like they were. If we needed to get out of the dungeon for some reason, we were going to have to use our badges and come all the way back from the guild.

"I-...it'ssss just...lllllike...tho-...those hhhholes...i-in the...B-b-beach Cave," Rita fretted.

"Oh, man—no wonder we couldn't see anything when we looked through on the outside! We were looking through a solid wall!" I realized.

"W-...what...d-d-d-do we d-do?" Rita asked quietly.

I didn't speak right away, instead taking a deep breath. This was no time to freak out. "We...we look for Azurill. That's what we're here for, right? And since we can't get out this way, that must mean Drowzee can't either," I realized aloud. "We'll just have to make do until we find the exit or catch up to Drowzee and Azurill somewhere in here."

"Th-...that'ssss...t-t-t-true...," Rita agreed quietly. "A-and, um...K-Kai...thhhhere are... f-fighting- and...rrrrrrock-type...P-Pokémon hhhere...a-...and you're...w-...we-...weak...t-t-to th-...thhhose t-types...sssso, um...be...c-c-careful..."

And so began our travels through the Spiky Tunnels of Doom. My name for them is definitely _not_ an exaggeration. Some of the tunnels (of doom) in between the different caves were so narrow that Rita and I literally had to weave our way through them in order not to hurt ourselves. It was not fun. There was also a Spinarak stalking us through the entire floor.

"That thing is really creeping me out," I whispered to Rita.

"I'm...ssssssorry."

"He's been following us all this way. He's, like...a spy!" Once again, my overactive imagination got away with me. "Oh, man, Rita, what if he's spying on us for Drowzee? He's following us to report our doings to his master, the Great Almighty Drowzee!" I struck a pose and sang, "He's a really creepy spy, a really creepy spy of action!"*

Rita glanced over her shoulder to look at me. "U-um...o-...okay..."

I let out a wail of dismay. "Noooo, Rita! We're an exploration team and it's our duty to stop evildoers like him! You're supposed to say 'We must _stop_ him!' and, uh, do a dramatic pose or something!" I insisted.

Rita stared at me before sighing heavily. "...O-oh nnno. W-...we...we...mmmmust...sssstop him," she played along in a monotone voice. She didn't strike a pose, which was very disappointing.

"Great! Now let's go _slay_ him!" I declared, pointing dramatically at the Spinarak, who was just standing there watching us.

Rita had no response to that other that one of her patented "Kai is mentally disturbed" looks. She just walked away. I didn't have any choice but to follow her. "We'll get you next time, Evil Doctor Spinarak!" I hissed to him under my breath. I'm not really sure when he turned into a super-villan, but hey, it was all good. "I'm watching you!"

Rita warily glanced at me over her shoulder. "A-...are you...g-g-going to...d-d-d-do thhhis...the...w-...who-...whole...t-t-t-time?"

"Well, uh, yeah. Why?"

She sighed. "...Nnnnever m-...mmind."

Another thing: even more annoying than the Spiky Tunnels of Doom and Evil Doctor Spinarak are the stone spikes. They get in the way _and_ they hurt. They weren't sharp enough to break the skin, but they hurt something awful when you hit them. Especially when you're _thrown_ into one by a Machop that I decided was Evil Doctor Spinarak's sidekick. I called him "Hi-Yah the Evil Martial Artist Dude." He didn't really like it when I ran towards him like a madwoman. The whole situation resulting from that idiocy is a really long story. You're better off not knowing about it. Suffice it to say that this experience was painful, since Machop is a fighting-type and all. Rita didn't say anything to me, but I got the impression that she _really_ wasn't happy with me for starting the whole "we are superheroes" thing.

"Do you think we should go that way?" I asked once the Machop was gone, indicating the tunnel the Machop had come out of. "I don't think we looked there, and he had to come from somewhere, after all."

"W-...we c-can...t-t-t-try," Rita agreed. I followed her into the new Spiky Tunnel of Doom.

Then I glanced over my shoulder. "Evil Doctor Spinarak is still following us. And he's _closer_ now," I whined.

"...O-oh nnnno. W-...wha-...whhhatever...shhhould we do?" she lamented in a very sarcastic tone.

"Can we slay him now?" I pleaded. "It would be fun!" Then I realized what tone of voice she'd used. "Oh, oh, wait! That was sarcasm! Rita, you were sarcastic! Yay!"

As I was scarring Rita for life with my enthusiastic response to her sarcasm (which was well called for: this was the first time I actually heard her sort-of joke), we continued looking for the way out, accompanied by Evil Doctor Spinarak. After a short while, we walked into a big room. "Hey, look! It's an exit!" I exclaimed—unnecessarily, since the very large and very noticeable opening in the wall was directly in front of us on the other side of the room. "Let's check it out, okay?" I looked over my shoulder at Evil Doctor Spinarak, who was _still_ following us. "You win this round, Evil Doctor Spinarak, but don't think this is the last you'll hear from me!" I threatened as we stepped through the opening and into the blinding light.

The hopeful part of us expected to find ourselves outside. Instead, after a vague sensation like we were moving upwards, we found ourselves walking out of a solid wall again. I sighed. "Oh boy, there's floors to this dungeon. Whee," I said in a deadpan voice. " 'Kay, let's go."

This second floor was infested with Geodude. Thankfully, Rita's Razor Leaf managed to drive most of them off. I decided to just accept that a bunch of flying leaves could cause so much damage to a boulder with arms. Also, on occasion I noticed that just like some Pokémon in the other two dungeons Rita and I have visited, the Geodudes (as opposed to the Geodud_ettes—_ha ha, I'm _so_ clever) were affected by my "cute charm" and apparently it made them space out and/or stare at me dreamily. Human mindset + Pokémon being attracted to you = _really_ _creepy_. Rest assured the "OMG you're cute" moments don't cease here (because _heaven_ knows they don't), but I _really_ don't want to remember. So I'm just not going to mention them every time. Or at all.

In other news, there was also an oran berry and a heal seed lying around, along with a good amount of Poké. The seed and berries were a bit dirty, but still edible. Aside from dealing with infatuated Pokémon, it didn't take us long to find the exit on this floor; it was just one room away.

Floor three housed three Spinarak, a Doduo, and two Starly. Rita didn't fare nearly as well on this floor as she did on the previous two; she had to eat one of our oran berries to regain her strength. Those Starly and their Quick Attack caused a lot of trouble. The exit was quite a ways away, and it took us a while to find it, but along the way we found a couple more oran berries and also a cheri berry.

We managed to get through the fourth floor without encountering any Pokémon. This was because the exit was in the room we wound up walking through the wall into.

By floor five, we were encountering a small difficulty in our search. "Uh...Rita?" I hesitantly spoke up, glancing over my shoulder at her.

"...Y-yes?" she asked warily.

"I...uh, I'm really hungry. And it's really distracting me. I can't concentrate on looking for Azurill like this," I admitted guiltily.

"I-I'm...k-kind of hhhhungry, t-too...Shhhould w-...we t-t-take a b-break?" she offered, already starting to set down our bag. "I-...if...if w-...if we...c-c-can't c-concentrate, th-...then we...we w-won't...be useful...a-anyway," she pointed out. "It's b-better...if we eat."

_Whoa. She's kind of taking charge. That's awesome! _I thought to myself. "I'll take out those apples we bought," I offered. "Can you check to make sure we won't be ambushed?"

"Ahh! Mmmmme?" she squeaked. I nodded. "I...um...but, ummm..." She floundered for a reason not to but came up empty. "O-...okay..." She very cautiously and very nervously started looking down the tunnels to make sure no attackers were coming. Rita was Rita; actively doing things on her own made her nervous. That was why I asked her to check if we were safe; the more she did it, the less scary it'd be, right? Theoretically, at least. Rita only peeked her head around into the tunnels from the side, effectively shielding herself, but we were making progress.

Rummaging through our selection of items inside the bag, I came across something that made me pause. "Hey, Rita. Didn't we only buy two apples? We didn't pick any more up in here like we did those berries, did we?"

Rita, who was returning with an enormously relieved look on her face, replied, "Nnnnno...w-...why?"

I pulled three apples out from our bag.

Rita looked exasperated, which was unusual. "Mmmmister K-...Kecleon...mmmust have g-...given ussss...a-an extra..."

"By mistake?" I asked doubtfully.

She shook her head. "Thhhhey—they llllike to...mmmmmmake ssssure I...g-get e-...enough t-to eat...sssssince I—sssince—sssssssince I d-d-don't...hhhave mmmy...p-parents."

I frowned. There was a new question burning at me now, but I wasn't sure if Rita would react badly, considering the "do you miss your family?" fiasco the other night. "Do you have any aunts or uncles, Rita?" I asked hesitantly. "Or cousins?" I was getting the impression that Rita had lived alone since her mom disappeared, and that struck me as weird. If she had relatives, why didn't she live with any?

"N-no...My f-father might have s-sisters or brothers, b-but..." She trailed off, looking uncomfortable, but I got the gist of what she was saying. If she did have aunts or uncles, chances were she'd never know. But even so, why had she lived alone? And aside from that...just how long had she been doing so?

"I never had any aunts or uncles either." The words slipped out of my mouth before I could fathom where they came from. I blinked.

Rita looked equally astonished. "Y-you...rrrrremember!" she exclaimed.

I frowned, very confused. "Apparently I did. It's gone now, though." I shrugged unhappily. "I didn't really _remember_ anything when I said it, though...I just, well, _said_ it. My most concrete statement yet, and I don't even know where it came from!" I frowned even more deeply. "So...what I get from this is that my parents didn't have brothers or sisters and I don't have cousins. Huh."

Rita looked thoughtful, as if trying to put two and two together. Her answer did not seem to come out to four because she shook her head. "W-...we shhhhould...eat," she pointed out slowly, though still appearing thoughtful. "We...we hhhhhave to h-hurry."

Rita and I both finished our apples in silence. "Are you ready to go?" I asked, tossing the core into a corner of the room. Rita nodded, swallowing the last of hers. Her apple core joined mine and off we went to find this fifth floor's exit. It turned out to be a few rooms away. We ran into a Nidorino and Nidorina on the way, from whom I got a thorough poisoning, but we managed to chase them off. Weirdly enough, as soon as we stepped through the opening in the wall and wound up on the next floor, I was apparently cured of the poison.

"This place is just bizarre," I said, examining the once gross-looking, nausea-inducing, swollen wound, which had, in that split second, nearly scabbed over and had been disinfected. If I had actual arms, I'd have been throwing them up in the air out of confusion right about now. "If that warpy-thing healed this infected wound, why doesn't it heal us _every_ time?"

Rita shook her head, looking just as bewildered as I felt. "I...d-d-don't...g-get it either..."

Onwards to floor six. We drove off another Machop, two Spinarak, and a Geodude before we found the exit at the other end of a long, winding tunnel.

Floor seven. We shooed away yet _another_ Machop, and knocked out a really annoyed Nidorino. Rita about died of heart failure when another Starly sneaked up on her, but we chased it off as well. The exit was about three rooms away.

By floor eight, I was getting nervous about how long we'd been in here. Rita and I got rid of a Doduo, a couple of Starly, and a Spinarak (another of the creepy stalker variety; I decided that it must be Evil Doctor Spinarak and resurrected the superhero game. Rita was not pleased). The exit was really a room away from us, but we wound up going the opposite way and taking the much longer "scenic route." Of course.

Floor nine. We'd been in here an awfully long time, and I was really anxious by now. Rita was almost in a panic. We were both starting to wonder if Azurill and Drowzee were even in here anymore. Still, as we wandered from room to room and Spiky Tunnel of Doom to Spiky Tunnel of Doom, I forced down the nervousness. _There's no time for me to be freaking out_, I told myself._ I have to focus on finding Azurill._

At last, after making our way past some more enemies, we found the exit for that floor. Neither of us commented on it to the other, just walked into the blinding light. But when we materialized, everything was different.

"...W-...whe-...where are w-...we?" Rita asked, looking around.

The walls were made of dark gray, smooth stone, very unlike the pale, almost white spikes of the dungeon. A faint breeze blew from behind us; I glanced over my shoulder to see a wide opening in the wall, through which we could see the very spot where we had entered the dungeon from the outside.

"I...I think we're out of the dungeon," I told her quietly.

"Rrreally?" At first Rita appeared happy, but then her expression fell. "B-but...w-...wha-...what hhhappened to...Azurill?"

There was a long, awful pause.

"We didn't see them in the dungeon," I said slowly. Then, suddenly, guiltily, an awful thought came to mind. "We couldn't have passed them, could we? I assumed they'd be trying to get _through_ the dungeon, but...what if they were looking for something _in_ it?"

Rita gasped, looking panicked. "I...oh...w-what...d-d-d-do...we d-do?"

But in the end, we didn't need to figure that out. From the very back of the very big cavern, a loud wail went up: "H-h...he..._HELP_!"

* * *

* This line is based off the song "Perry the Platypus" from Phineas and Ferb. I do not own or have any association with the song/show whatsoever. I'm just borrowing its very adaptable tune.

* * *

**AN:/**

**Hello, devoted readers and un-devoted readers and people who randomly happen upon this story! How are _you_ today? I'm in an odd but good mood today, as I sit here at work and update my fanfiction like any normal person would be doing as she works...And guess what? It's time for everyone's favorite poll update!**

**Someone else has voted! Yay for that person! Both Loudred x Sunflora and Charmander x Pikachu have been boosted up to five votes! Yeah, it's a short update, but you all like to be informed, don't you? It saves you a trip to my profile.**

**Well, there's not really much to say about this chapter. Dungeon crawling, fun fun fun. This chapter was _killing_ me, I tell you. It was _extremely annoying _to write. Hopefully you enjoyed Kai's weird "superhero" game. Isn't it annoying when you're trying to avoid getting into a battle and the Pokémon you're trying to avoid chases you around the entire floor? Evil Doctor Spinarak is the annoying Spinarak that followed Team Aster around in my Explorers of Darkness game. I wish Rita had let Kai slay his incarnation in this story...**

**Now it's time to reply to my wonderful reviewers!**

Sweet but Psycho**: A bunch of Caterpie catering pie...that's genius! I should have Kai notice that! Well, then again, maybe not. She would have way too much of a field day with that one. Yes, running gave them very miniscule improvement. The whole distance thing didn't come out the way I wanted it to because I was drawing a complete blank on how to explain it right. The gist of it was that I figured Team Aster's got to account for little Marill. He did just run all that way himself and was probably completely drained before they even left. Then he would have gotten tired, and Rita would have offered to carry him on her back, but Marill would have been stubborn, and time would have been wasted trying to convince him. And once they did convince him, Rita would have been slowed down climbing up a mountain with a kid on her back. Now that I worked it out some I can actually put it in the story. Oh, and good luck with your friend! Hopefully everything works out for you.**

Mystery-Bright**: I never understood why they were called "Caterpie" either. "Caterpillar" and "pie" were all I could get out of it, and that combination never made any sense to me unless they tasted good, but why would _anyone_ know what a Caterpie tasted like...? Ew, I'm not even going to follow that train of thought.**

adventurerXD**: I always loved Grovyle too. =] Glad you're still enjoying the story!**

HikariNoTenshi-San**: In Marill's case, I think it was a combination of the two. XD I dunno, I kind of got the feeling that Marill was always that brave, but you definitely can't put as much dialogue as I have here in the game itself, so Marill's bravery didn't come across as well. I mean, he did come all the way back to Treasure Town by himself, and he stuck around on the mountain until the hero and partner come back out of the dungeon. But yeah, I think he'd be a good explorer. Also, yes, Drowzee should definitely run. Very far away. You all should hopefully want to join up with Kai too when you see what happens next chapter...**

**All right, time for the random fact! it's not particularly stunning, but here's Random Fact #18: **Rita still carries her old bag around with her, but Kai's not aware of this. Rita's old bag has her Relic Fragment inside, and the bag itself is inside the bag they got from Wigglytuff. This is so that Kai won't see it. At the moment Kai's forgotten all about it, and Rita doesn't want to remind her of all the questions she has. Smart move, Rita.

**Well, with that, you should all stay tuned for the next update. We've got a little twist coming up, people! Here's a hint, in the form of multiple questions: don't you think Azurill coped a little _too_ well with being kidnapped to a mountain and threatened by his kidnapper and almost forced to crawl into a dark and scary place? And what about Drowzee? Didn't Chatot say it was time going out of control that was making Pokémon "evil," and kind-of-sort-of imply that that was because it was twisting their minds? What Drowzee did is bad enough, but he didn't seem quite _twisted_...**


	19. Chapter 3, Part 5: Drowzee and Azurill

I froze at the sound of that cry. It echoed in my head, a haunting song on repeat: _H-h...he...HELP!_

"That was..._exactly_ what I heard in my weird vision-things!" I gasped. "So that means Azurill is—"

"Thhh-...there!" Rita exclaimed, pointing with the tip of her leaf to the front of the cavern. We hadn't noticed before—it was a very big cave we were in, and we were at the very back so we couldn't hear quiet voices—but two figures were standing there. One was large and threatening, and the other was very small and was struggling against the tight hold his captor had on him. Definitely, definitely Drowzee and Azurill!

We started running. The cave wasn't so big that it would take more than five or ten seconds to dash up to them, but that was a long enough time for something bad to happen before we got close enough to help. And by "bad" I don't necessarily mean death or injury. Because I know that if _I_ were a little kid kidnapped by a very nice-seeming adult, I would be freaked out by any older Pokémon who so much as _glanced_ at me from then on. The damage was already done.

But being hit on top of all that emotional trauma would certainly worsen it.

Drowzee didn't hear us shouting, or maybe he was ignoring us, because he didn't turn to see what the commotion was. "I told you to stop that!" he shouted. He released Azurill with one hand and brought it down on the side of his face.

Azurill squealed and stopped struggling. He just stood there, looking stunned. Then, slowly, his face turned downwards to look at the ground.

Rita gasped, shocked enough to stop in mid-step. I couldn't believe what had just happened either, but instead of being shocked like Rita was, it made me completely, devastatingly _furious_. "Hurry up, Rita!" I snapped, pounding across the stone floor. Oh, forget _just_ rescuing Azurill—a certain someone was going to be _massacred_ before we left.

Drowzee pushed Azurill towards the back wall with his foot. "Now just go into that hole there and get the—"

"Stop it _right there_!" I growled angrily, coming to a halt right behind the object of my fury.

Rita wasn't far behind me, and she stopped beside me. "W-...we w-...wo-...won't...llllet you d-...d-d-do that!" she announced. Her body and her voice were shaking a bit, but she had still come with me over here and spoke up. She wasn't holding back out of fear.

Drowzee spun around, looking mutinous. I flinched when I met his eyes. This definitely was a major turn-about from the Drowzee we'd met earlier today. There was a wild light in his eyes, he was giving off extremely dark vibes, and the expression on his face was nothing short of maniacal. "You two, huh?" Apparently he remembered us from earlier, and he wasn't happy in the least to be found. He glared at Azurill. "See what you did, you worthless little brat?" he screamed, lifting up his hand again.

Azurill ducked away. Keeping his face angled downwards, he nervously glanced from Drowzee to us and back again out of the corner of his eyes. He must have been completely terrified and unsure of what to do. I decided not to move towards him or to try and get him to come over here; if Drowzee was actually lashing out, that might have been for the best, anyway. We didn't want any more harm coming to him. And with the way Azurill was looking at us, even if he did try to get away, he wasn't sure if we would treat him any differently than Drowzee was treating him now.

"Hey! He didn't _do_ anything, jerk!" I angrily spat out.

Drowzee whipped around, taking a few steps toward us. His stance was threatening and as much as I hated to admit it, he was intimidating. "How did you find this place?" Drowzee demanded, looking mutinous.

"We're Team Aster!" I shouted, pointing with my tail to the badges pinned to Rita's bag. "An exploration team! No criminal can escape _us_!"

It wasn't exactly true—remember Zubat and Koffing?—but that declaration, meant to strike the fear of Arceus in him, didn't even seem to faze him. "An exploration team, huh?" he asked. A slow smile slid over his face. I followed his gaze; he was looking at Rita, who was starting to shake pretty badly. "Oh, my. Are you trembling?" he asked, the evil-looking smirk not budging.

"U-um..." Rita didn't confirm it, but she didn't deny it either.

"Ohhh, I get it now," he taunted, grinning as if he'd won a million Poké. "You two babies _say_ you're an exploration team, but you're just total rookies!"

"Ah...I..." Rita sighed, glancing at me guiltily. She was sorry for giving us up. I shrugged to convey that it didn't bother me. He would have figured it out at some point.

"Doesn't matter," I said to Drowzee, bristling my fur to make myself look bigger. "You're a criminal, and after smacking you around some—which I'll enjoy greatly, by the way—we're turning you in!"

Drowzee snorted, drawing himself up to his full height. He loomed well over the two of us, since he was about a foot taller than Rita and two feet taller than me. "Yeah, right. So I'm a wanted Pokémon with a bounty on my head." He reached down and yanked Azurill in front of him by the tail, and not gently either. Azurill yelped, but he made no move to either resist or cooperate with Drowzee. He just stood there, looking lost. "And I kidnapped this little guy from Treasure Town." Shoving Azurill back out of the way—I winced, feeling awful for not interfering—he leered at us. "But can two kids like you do the job? Can a couple of scared little _rookies_ confront this outlaw and bring him to justice?"

Rita shuddered and I winced a little despite myself. In all this anger I had, I'd forgotten exactly who we were facing—a registered criminal. A wanted outlaw who was probably much stronger than us, and definitely more ruthless. _I...I don't know..._can_ we? _I wondered, feeling an awful lump in my stomach.

"...Y-yes...we...we c-c-c-can. Y-y-yes, w-...we...can!"

Rita. Those words had come from _Rita_. I turned to stare at her. She was shaking even worse than before. But there she was, making eye contact with Drowzee and looking equally terrified and determined. I wouldn't have believed it was her if I didn't see her mouth moving or hear the stuttering. "W-...we'd...nnnnever...llllose t-t-t-to a...b-bad guy...lllike...y-y-you!" she declared, her voice cracking towards the end.

"Ha, ha, ha!" The sound of Drowzee's sarcastic laughter distracted me. I tore my gaze away from Rita to look back at him. "I've been chased by all sorts of exploration teams in my day," he scoffed, "but never a sorrier-looking bunch than you two!"

He paused, stepping towards Azurill and shoving the little guy towards the wall with his foot. "You're in the way, runt. Wait over by the wall 'til I take care of these pests. We'll get back to our little treasure hunt after that." Obediently, the little blue Pokémon stumbled away towards the back wall, pressing himself against it desperately. He squeezed his eyes shut like doing that would make him disappear. I tensed, becoming even more concerned for Azurill, but there was nothing we could do until Drowzee was taken care of.

"_This_ should be a laugh," he snorted as he moved back into position. "All right, let's see how long this takes. Show me what you've got!"

"I plan on it," I retorted, flattening my ears against my head threateningly.

Drowzee made the first move, advancing on us faster than I'd expected. "Ack!" I squeaked, seeing him make a beeline for me. I backed up quickly, almost tripped over my own feet, and tried to whack him in the face with my tail. It didn't work very well, because of that two-foot height difference I mentioned, and Drowzee very easily kicked me away. The force of it knocked me over and I rolled to a stop.

"That's it? Pathetic," he spat, glaring at me.

"Yup...you are, so...why...don't you just...surrender?" I puffed out, getting to my feet. I wasn't too hurt, just a bit winded. Putting the moment to good use, I shot a quick glance towards Azurill. Thankfully, he was remaining well out of the way, so I probably wouldn't have to worry as much about him getting roughed up any more than he already was. Drowzee was at least concerned about him, if only because he wanted to keep his little slave from getting so hurt that he couldn't work.

"Because _I_ at least know what I'm doing," Drowzee shot back, looking smug and drawing my attention from Azurill. "Have you _ever_ battled before? You're worse than a Splashing Magikarp."

I growled loudly. "Shut up! Less banter, more fighting!" But Drowzee turned his back on me and started heading towards Rita. I readied myself for a Tackle attack.

Rita, during this lovely discussion, had pulled out a blast seed we had found somewhere in the dungeon. "Kai!" she called out before I actually launched my attack. I glanced over at Rita to see her waving her leaf frantically in a sign for me to get out of the way. I nodded and quickly darting to the side. Rita shoved the seed into her mouth, and when she opened it again massive amounts of fire spewed out directly in front of her.

Drowzee shouted in pain, having walked right into the attack. He backpedaled, desperately trying to bat away the flames. Rita shut her mouth, wincing. I had to bet that a grass Pokémon spitting fire would not be the most pleasant experience, but she recovered quickly. Drowzee ruefully looked over his singed skin, trying to hide a wince, and while he was distracted Rita and I both Tackled him. He yelped, stumbling backwards a step.

"You only caught me off guard," Drowzee snapped, glaring at us intently.

I shrugged. "Whatever. We'll take what we can get. Right, Rita?"

To my surprise, Rita backed up a few steps, looking nervous. "K-Kai...hhhe's using—"

Drowzee thrust his hands out in my direction. His eyes were glowing with pinkish energy. "Confusion!"

I shrieked, high-pitched and full of pain. I collapsed to the ground, pressing down on front paws as hard as I could to distract myself from the pain of that attack. "K-Kai!" I heard Rita exclaim distantly, but I couldn't answer her. I was in way, way too much pain.

Confusion was a psychic attack, meaning Drowzee directly attacked my mind. Being a normal-type, it shouldn't have been this painful, but as the Chimecho incident last night had proved, my mind was not the best place for people to invade. The pain then was bad enough, and she was only trying to help; a direct attack was even worse.

The attack felt like it lasted years, though I knew that wasn't possible. When it ended, I just laid where I was. I needed a moment to recover, but I finally forced myself to my feet.

...Only to find Drowzee face-down on the floor, not moving.

"Whoa. What happened to him?" I asked, shaking my head to try and stop the lingering feeling of being dazed.

Rita looked down at the floor and blushed. "I...I hhhit him."

That caught my attention. I stared at her. "...You hit him. Hard enough to knock him out."

"Y-...yes...?" she said, looking even more awkward as she obviously wondered if that was something bad.

Apparently she saw nothing unusual about this. "Have you ever done this before now?"

"Um...yeah...why?"

"Now I _really_ don't understand why you think you're no good at anything," I sighed.

"H-huh?" Rita looked shocked by that statement. "I nnnnever...ssss-said th-th-that..." she protested half-heartedly. _You didn't need to either, since it's so obvious_, I thought.

I glanced over at where Azurill was. Thankfully, he was fine. Still really freaked out and cowering by the wall, but he hadn't gotten hurt any more than he already was.

There was another pause, and then I asked, "Should we keep beating him up even though he's dead to the world?" I looked back over at Drowzee, still sprawled out on the floor. "If he were alert, I'd want to kill him," I thought out loud, "but I don't think it's right to attack someone who can't defend himself." I scowled. "Even if the Pokémon in question is a cruel, heartless a—"

Rita picked up on what kind of a word was going to follow that. Her eyes grew wide. "I-if w-...we c-could...t-t-t-tie him...up...thhhhat w-...wou-...would w-work!" she quickly cut me off. That was probably a good thing. Heaven only knew what Azurill's mother would say if Azurill went up to her asking what this word that Team Aster had taught him meant. That would not be good for business.

Still frowning, I looked around the cavern and immediately noticed a group of long, thick vines hanging down from the ceiling a short distance away. "There's some kind of plant over there with a bunch of vines," I said, pointing it out to Rita. "Would that work?"

Rita looked at it for a moment and nodded. "Y-yes...if w-...w-we c-could...d-d-drag him...o-...over...thhhere," she said finally.

I nodded back. "Okay. Let's do that, then. I think this sleeping effect wears off eventually, though, so we'd better do it fast."

It took a while—Drowzee was both taller and heavier than us—but eventually we lugged the psychic-type outlaw to the group of vines. I discovered that tying knots when you don't have hands is very hard, especially when you only have access to one end of the thing you're tying knots with. After a few minutes, though, we got him secured. We weren't strong enough to pull the vines down off the ceiling; instead we'd tied him to the ends of the vines by his hands and feet so that he was in a half-sitting position.

"I'll stay here and watch him," I told Rita, gesturing to Drowzee. He was starting to shift around a little where we tied him up. "You go check on Azurill, okay?"

"O-okay." Rita nodded, looking relieved at being able to get away from Drowzee and trying to hide it. It wasn't working very well. She made her way across the cave to where Azurill was. As she approached, Azurill pressed himself closer and closer to the wall he was standing against and kept his face turned downwards. "Please don't hurt me!" he squeaked out, practically trying to shove himself through the wall.

"I-I...w-...wo-...won't," Rita told him gently. She stopped and backed up so Azurill would feel minutely safer. "W-...w-we...were...thhhe o-ones...who...p-p-picked up...y-your a-apple...rrrremember? W-...we c-c-c-came to...rrrrrescue you." She showed him the badges on her bag.

Azurill looked at them closely, lifting his head ever so slightly. Finally, he nodded, the tension in his body diminishing very slightly. Slowly, he peeled himself away from the wall, but he didn't move forward.

"A-are yyyou okay?" Rita asked worriedly. He had gotten pushed around quite a lot, from what she could see.

Azurill flinched. "I...I'm okay," he insisted, not meeting Rita's eyes.

"O-okay..." He didn't seem okay, but Rita didn't press the issue. Azurill was still avoiding her gaze, but he had picked his head up even more and she could see that he was a little beat up and had some black-and-blue marks. Either Drowzee had been rough with him for the whole trek through the dungeon, or Azurill'd been forced to fight the spellbound Pokémon along with Drowzee. Neither option, upon being mentioned to me by Rita, made me feel very good about myself for taking so long to get here. "Ssssstay...hhhhere f-...for...one...ssssecond, o-okay?" she told him. Azurill nodded and headed back over to Drowzee and me.

"How's Azurill?" I asked, glancing over at Drowzee to make sure he wasn't waking up. To my immense relief, Drowzee was slumped over sideways, held up only by the vines. He hadn't stirred since Rita had left, and that was because he'd moved, meaning I was fine withj beating him up again, so I'd hit him as hard as I could in the stomach and then hit him over the head with something hard just in case he was actually regaining consciousness. He definitely wasn't now. It was _extremely_ satisfying.

Rita sighed, glancing back over to Azurill. "Rrrrreally...sssscared. I d-...d-d-d-don't...knnnnow hhh-...hhhow to...ge-...get him t-t-to...c-come wi-...with usss...without...sss-scaring him...mmmore."

I took a deep breath, preparing myself for some serious thinking. "Okay...what to do. Let's see. Oh, hey, didn't Chatot say something about some kinda police officer?"

"O-Officer...Mmmmmagnezone," Rita said, perking up.

"Right, him!" I exclaimed. "Chatot never said what to do after we capture someone, so maybe we should get Officer Magnezone to come here. What do you think?"

Rita thought about it and frowned. "...Ch-...Chatot nnnever...sssssaid how to...g-g-get him...hhhhere...e-either."

"Oh...right." I frowned too. "What do we do, then?" The both of us were quiet for a moment. "One of us could leave and get somebody to help us out," I reluctantly suggested. "One of us would be left here alone with Drowzee and Azurill, but right now it looks like our only choice."

Rita and I exchanged a glance. "I...I'll g-g-go," she offered nervously. I honestly wasn't sure if it was attempted bravery or attempted escape from Drowzee.

Suddenly, a staticky voice interrupted us. "That will not be necessary."

"Oh!" I jumped and turned around to see Magnezone himself. He was flanked by two Magnemite, each of whom had an iron cuff magnetically attached to one of his magnets.

"Officer Mmmagnezone...?" Rita said questioningly, watching as the sheriff approached. She moved closer to Azurill, noticing that the presence of more strangers was making him even more stressed than he already was.

"We received a message from your guild that a wanted outlaw, Drowzee, had been spotted. Others in Treasure Town indicated where he had headed to. We came to arrest and apprehend him," Magnezone stated professionally. His words were interspersed with bursts of static, though, making him a little hard to understand. "However, it appears we were beaten to it by your exploration team."

"I guess," I said sheepishly once I'd processed the gist of what he was saying. "You should know that this Drowzee"—I prodded him in his side—"kidnapped the Azurill over there." I tilted my head in Azurill's direction. "Drowzee wanted him to get some kind of treasure out of this little hole in the wall." Officer Magnezone nodded, looking as grim as an animated UFO could. "Azurill's too scared to leave, but we didn't know how to get anyone here to help," I added in hopes that the officers had some sort of method to do so and would share that information with us.

Magnezone nodded, gesturing to the two Magnemite to move forwards. They did, beginning to attach the metal cuffs to Drowzee's hands and remove the vines. Drowzee stirred, but he was only half-conscious and not very lucid. I hoped I'd given him a concussion. "You're a new team?" Officder Magnezone asked. We nodded sheepishly. "You must have rushed off before Chatot could explain how to summon us, then."

"Azurill's brother was originally with these two, but Drowzee left him behind. He managed to get back to Treasure Town once he realized what happened. We took off as soon as we'd heard what happened," I explained.

"Understandable. Your explorer badge has a button in the center," Magnezone began to explain. "Pressing it sends a signal to the sheriff's station in Treasure Town. I or my deputies will arrive to apprehend whomever your team captures."

I nodded slowly, as did Rita. "Oh. Okay, I see. Thanks."

One of the Magnemite piped up then. "Sir, the outlaw is in custody," he informed Magnezone. His voice was almost drowned out by static. The magnetic cuffs on Drowzee's wrists were sticking to the two Magnemite's magnets, keeping him upright and unable to escape. That was not a concern at the moment, though, since Drowzee was so out of it.

Magnezone let out an affirmative noise. Then he turned to us. "We owe you great thanks for your cooperation!"

"No big deal," I dismissed him with a shrug. "Thank you for coming."

"Would you like us to take the child home as well?" one of the Magnemite offered.

I looked over at Azurill. Now that Drowzee had been officially arrested, Azurill was looking a little more comfortable. He'd even edged away from the wall some. "No, thank you. We'd like to finish that job ourselves," I added, glancing at Rita, who nodded.

Magnezone seemed satisfied. "Very well. We will send the reward to your guild!" Flashing his red and blue lights and letting out a noise that I somehow recognized as sirens, he led the way out of the dungeon with Drowzee towed along by his deputies. I was very tempted to give Drowzee one last hit as a goodbye present, but I decided not to. Now that Drowzee was in custody, that might get me arrested for assault or something.

With that done, I turned to Azurill. "Okay. Drowzee's been taken care of, Azurill. We won't be seeing him again. Do you think you're ready to leave?" I asked gently, looking over at him. The little blue Pokémon hesitated for a moment, but he eventually nodded. Very slowly and carefully he started walking towards the exit. Rita and I flanked him on either side, hoping he'd feel safer like that. Once we reached it, I ushered Rita and Azurill through first and looked over the cave one last time, making sure we didn't miss anything or leave something behind. We didn't seem to have, so I followed the two of them outside.

Compared to the darkness of the cave, the sun outside was blinding and, of course, shining directly into our eyes. I shut one eye tight, which is my form of squinting. I looked at the sky, appreciating the sight after being in that stupid cave for so long, and realized that it was well after noon but not yet sunset. "Whoa," I breathed out. "We went in while it was still early morning. We were in there for that long?" I asked Rita, turning to her and feeling the shock written all over my face. I figured it had been a while, but not quite _that_ long.

Rita, with her eyes narrowed, turned to look at me and tried not to laugh at my expression. "T-t-t-time's...o-out of w-...whack...in d-...d-dungeons...rrrrrrremember? W-...we...we were...only in thhhere...f-for a...ffffew...h-hours. O-out...hhhere...it was...llllonger."

I was kind of confused by all this stuff about time not working properly, but I nodded. "Okay...if you say so. You'd know better than I would." If I didn't get it at this point, I just wasn't going to understand. At least I had _some_ idea of what was going on.

I turned to Azurill. "So...are you ready to go home, Azurill?"

Azurill nodded. He was finally looking a bit cheerier now that he was out of that dungeon. "Y-yeah...I'm ready."

"Azure!" a new voice called.

Startled, Rita and I both turned around to look for the source of this new voice. Azurill beat us to it, though. "Ril!"

Standing not far from us was Marill, Azurill's older brother. Azurill instantly launched himself at his brother, practically tackling him to the ground. Marill hugged him tightly. Then Azurill started crying.

"Whoa!" Marill yelped with surprise. He hadn't been expecting that, apparently.

"R-Ril! It was r-really...s-scary!" Azurill sobbed in between hiccups. The kid was already working himself into hysterics. "Really...really scary!"

"A-are you okay, Azure? Are you hurt?" Marill asked, frantically looking over his younger brother.

"Drowzee smacked him around a little," I explained, feeling extremely guilty about it. Marill looked up with surprise. I guess he forgot we were here. "Rita and I weren't close enough to stop him. We're really sorry," I added glumly when Marill's expression turned to one of shock and fury.

"He _hit_ you?" Marill demanded, turning to Azurill. He started trying to pry Azurill off him so he could get a better look at his face. "How could he? That...that..._meanie_! I'm going to hit _him_ the next time I see him!"

I couldn't help but chuckle at the mental image of this little kid beating up Drowzee. That probably comes off as insensitive, but I honestly didn't mean it like that. I just pictured Drowzee cowering on the ground and Marill kicking him from various angles. With super-speed. "He's got a couple of bruises, but he's not hurt too bad, honest," I told Marill, who was still desperately trying to get his hysterical brother to look at him. "And thankfully, you won't have to worry about Drowzee for a long time. Officer Magnezone's got him."

"Oh, good," Marill sighed with relief. "I'm still going to hit that stupid meanie when I see him, though," he added darkly. Giving up on seeing the injury for himself, he hugged Azurill again. "Oh, Azure...Azure..."

We let them have their moment. It was heartwarming to watch such a happy reunion—ew, that sounds so girly, but I don't know how else to describe that. Marill was a very sweet older brother.

After a minute, though, Rita seemed to realize something. "W-...wait...I-I just...rrrremembered. Mmmarill, d-didn't...we a-...ask you t-t-to w-...wait at the...g-g-guild?"

Marill looked up sharply. Guilt was written all over his face. "I, uh...I got tired of waiting. I told everybody what you asked me to, but you were taking a really long time to come back, sooo...I was just gonna go look for Azure myself," he admitted.

I sighed heavily, extremely glad that Marill hadn't gotten the chance to carry out his plan. It would have been disastrous. "Hopefully there won't be a next time, but if there is, we need you to stay where we ask you to, okay, Marill?" I lectured him. "It was really dangerous in there. You could have gotten _really_ hurt if you went in alone."

He looked away sheepishly. "Okay...sorry, Miss Skitty and Miss Chikorita." Rita and I exchanged skeptical glances over the apology we doubted he actually meant. He would have happily waltzed in whether or not he had our approval.

I looked over the two brothers. Azurill was finally starting to calm down, so I decided we should probably get going. "All right. Well, kids, are you two ready to go home?"

"Definitely!" Marill cheered. Azurill nodded, finally releasing his older brother and rubbing his eyes with the ball on his tail.

"Okay. Now, I'm warning you, this might make you a little dizzy. We're gonna be teleporting to the guild, okay? Just like how Rita sent you to the guild, Marill." Talking over Marill's exclamation of how much fun that had been, I told Rita, "I'll take Marill with me, and you can take Azurill with you, okay? I don't know how many of us one badge can teleport, and we don't both wanna ask to take both kids and mess this all up somehow."

Rita nodded. "Okay. Nnnno p-p-problem." She touched the top badge on her bag's strap. I reached over and tapped the lower one. Like before, they glowed a bright blue and a voice popped into our heads.

_Would you like to return to Wigglytuff Guild?_

"Yes," I replied to the voice in my head. "Please transport Marill as well."

_Understood. Activated._

The badges flashed and in a single instant, we were transported to the guild. Marill yelped, surprised by the suddenness of it. We found ourselves in the middle of the lower level, which was empty, save for Croagunk and his cauldron-thing. Rita and Azurill arrived maybe a second after Marill and I did.

"That was so cool!" Marill gasped enthusiastically, shaking his head and stumbling around dizzily. "Can we do it again? Please?"

"Maybe some other time, if they work in Treasure Town," I said through a laugh.

Azurill did not have nearly as much fun as his brother did. "R-Ril, that wasn't fun! That was _scary_!" he whimpered, shakily making his way up to him.

"Well, _I_ thought it was fun...," Marill sulked.

Azurill shook his head. "N-no, it wasn't!"

I jumped in, hoping to head off any bickering that might come of that conversation. "If the badges do work in Treasure Town, I can teleport us again another day, Marill. Azurill, you don't have to do it ever again if you don't want to."

Azurill nodded slowly. "Okay..."

I nodded back. "All right, well, do you two need one of us to walk you home?" I wasn't sure if they would feel safe walking home alone after an incident like this, or if their mother wanted to talk to us or anything. Since she was sick and couldn't leave the house, judging from what the Kecleon brothers had said, I figured that if that were the case it would be better for us to go to her.

Marill looked over at Azurill. "Do you want them to walk us home?" he asked. _What a considerate brother_, I thought to myself._ He isn't afraid to go home alone, but he knows Azurill might be after what happened. _Azurill shook his head, clinging onto Marill again. "No, thank you. We're okay," Marill finally told us.

I nodded. "Okay. Just be careful, all right?"

"G-go rrright home," Rita instructed worriedly.

"We will." Marill exchanged a glance with Azurill before approaching us. "Um, Miss Skitty? Miss Chikorita?"

"Yeah? What's up?" I smiled at the two of them.

"You did all this for us," he told us eagerly. "We won't forget what you did for us!"

Rita blushed. "D-d-don't...w-...worry...about it," she told them.

"No, really. Thank you so much!" Marill turned to Azurill. "You, too, Azure. You gotta thank them too."

Azurill nodded and approached us, sticking close to Marill's side. "Th-thank you...v-very much!" he said, sniffling. "Thank you for r-rescuing me!"

"Aw, it's okay," I replied with another big smile.

"Really...really, thank you!" Marill repeated happily. He darted up and hugged me and then Rita. Rita smiled widely at the hug."We're going to go home now."

"Okay," I replied. "Be safe!"

"We will." Marill put a hand on Azurill's back and began to guide him towards the ladder, helping him up every rung. We moved to the base of the ladder and watched their progress. At the top, they leaned over the hole and waved goodbye. We waved back. Then they turned and were out of sight.

Relief washed over me once I saw them leave. It was over. We'd really done it. We'd saved Azurill and captured our first outlaw! I broke out into a loud cheer, the relief giving me a surge of energy. "Yay! We did it! We got Drowzee!"

"Yeah," Rita agreed. Unlike my reaction, she was looking a little overwhelmed.

I turned to face her so quickly that Rita jumped back a step. "You were right, Rita!" I told her eagerly. "You told Drowzee we could do it, and we did! Even I wasn't sure, and I like to think positively!"

"I...I w-wasn't...rrrrreally ssssure e-...either," she pointed out. "A-are you okay, Kai?"

"Oh, I'm just on an adrenaline high," I told her cheerfully. "It's like a sugar rush, just without the sugar and the eating part! But seriously, it was really cool how you stood up to Drowzee like that!" I insisted. "It was awesome! And when Azurill was all panicky in the cave you said we couldn't leave because it might make him even more scared. I don't know if I'd have thought about that 'til he told me!"

Rita blushed, embarrassed by the praise. "We-...well...thhhanks, K-Kai..." Aside from her embarrassment, she also looked concerned about my state of mind. Oh well.

I grinned. "Yup," I said in lieu of "you're welcome." I started walking towards the ladder leading to the upper floor. "Let's go see if we can find, Chatot, okay? We've gotta let him know why we ditched Bidoof." Thinking about that, I felt my face fall. "He's probably not going to be very happy with us, is he?"

Rita's expression clearly showed she hadn't thought about that. "Hhhhe...mmm_might_ be o-...okay w-...wi-...with it-t-t...We...d-d-d-d-_did_...ssssave Azzzzurill," she pointed out.

"True. That has to count for something. We did good for our first outlaw!" I cheered. I squared my shoulders, starting to make my way up the ladder. Rita followed behind me. "All right. Now to find Chatot!"

* * *

**AN:/**

**Hi, everyone! I'm very sorry for that and for the lack of action in this chapter. The next one isn't that much better, but it at least has some interesting revelations on Rita's thoughts about Kai's origins. The poll hasn't changed any from last time, I don't think, so let's move on to reviews!**

HikariNoTenshi-San**: Kai's a very interesting Skitty, isn't she? Rita's just sort of given up on Kai and her insanity. She internally reconsiders joining up with Kai at least once a day. XD She'll definitely do so after what I'm giving Kai next chapter. **

Sweet but Psycho**: I'm glad you enjoyed the reference to the holy light. I get "you're mentally disturbed" looks all the time, too! It shouldn't surprise anyone, considering I'm the one who thinks up all of Kai's weird jokes…but still. XD I actually wasn't that hyper writing the dungeon (at first), but it was annoying to write about and I knew dungeon-crawling makes for a boring read, so I just had Kai be…herself. **

Mystery-Bright**: Hm. That's actually an interesting theory. Sounds like something Chatot would say! (Only with big words and scientific terms and things like that, which would result in the malfunctioning of most human minds.) **

SapphireFyr**: I'm glad you're enjoying the story! The Kai-voice in my head is enjoying a significant ego-boost from your naming her your favorite character. Also glad you like the speech impediment aspect. Not sure I'm doing it completely correctly (since I don't stutter), but at least I try. =] Thanks for reading!**

**I'm going to give everyone a heads-up. I have some busy days ahead of me! I'm going to a family reunion this weekend (and running games for the kids, hopefully I'll come back alive) and going on vacation on the 20th. I'll try and get up the last part of chapter 3 and the next special episode before I go!**

**Next time in Team Aster's adventures, we'll find out whether or not Chatot's going to murder them for ditching Bidoof, listen to Rita's theories on how Kai mysteriously appeared on the island, and watch Kai receive a gift that I really shouldn't have made someone give her. It might encourage her overactive imagination.**

_EDIT_**: **_So you were probably just invited to come reread this, right? Sorry about that. My sister decided that since she was uploading this update for me it would be a great idea to add a few lines to this paragraph as if she were me and then post a chapter to make sure everyone read this. -_-; Anyway, the reason for this update I did something incredibly bad, namely Kai and her magic singing. OTL Seriously, I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that. __Even worse than that...I left you all without a random fact! I cursed very loudly today when that was pointed out to me. Naturally, this happened at work while about five of my higher-ups were walking past me._

**Random Fact #19: **You know how I mentioned that Rita carries around her Relic Stone without Kai knowing it? Well, that's what's _really_ responsible for knocking out Drowzee. XD Rita has got to be strong if she carries around a stone everyewhere she goes, but not to the extent that she knocked him out herself. Kai hasn't caught on that it wasn't Rita's own strength that knocked Drowzee out, but hey, I think we needed to put some respect for others in her anyway.


	20. Chapter 3, Part 6: Coming to Conclusions

Not too long afterwards, Rita and I were hanging out on the upper floor of the guild, where Chatot was to give us our reward for a job well done. We were at the outlaw bulletin board waiting for said Pokémon to show up.

"Chatot's certainly taking his time bringing us this reward," I pointed out, glancing out a window (not the Sacred Window, a different one) to judge how late it was getting.

"Mmmmaybe he's…hhhhaving…t-t-t-trouble fffinding it?" Rita suggested, though the expression on her face suggested she didn't believe what she was saying.

"I swear, we're going to be old and feeble by the time he gets here," I grumbled irritably. "Stupid Chatot…." Speaking of Chatot, turned out he _was_ pretty mad about us running off without telling anyone why, but once we told him why, he got over it. He said that we were right to act so quickly—any longer and Azurill might have been in even deeper trouble. This made me decide that Chatot was sort of okay. Sometimes. In _extraordinary_ circumstances. Then he ruined the moment by scolding us for letting two traumatized children walk home alone and not even bothering to speak to their mother.

Right on cue, Chatot fluttered down from the topmost level carrying a bag. "I've gotten the bounty from Officer Magnezone for the captured outlaw!"

"Finally," I sighed under my breath.

Chatot either didn't hear me or chose to pretend he hadn't. He put down the bag in front of us. "Well done, you two!" he chirped, opening the bag to reveal a massive amount of Poké inside. I couldn't help but stare at it. Beside me, Rita let out a little gasp. "Here's your share for the job. It's yours to keep!" And while Rita and I stared hopefully at the contents of the bag, he picked out three 100-Poké coins and placed them in front of us. A grand total of 300 Poké.

To think I'd let us get our hopes up, only for Chatot to crush it.

"That's it?" I said in a monotone, turning over one of the coins. "After all that hard work?" Rita just sighed and took the coins to put them in her bag. I think she'd given up yesterday.

Chatot had the nerve to look amused. "But of course! It's all part of the training," he declared, picking up the huge money bag again. "And we expect just as much effort tomorrow!" he called over his shoulder as he cheerfully headed towards the lower level.

"Y'know, I like this job and all, but it'd make me happier if our share was just a _little_ bit bigger," I sighed once he was out of earshot. "I mean—what are we going to do with just three hundred Poké? You spent eight hundred on just that reviver seed."

"W-…we ssssstill…have…sssome sss-…sssavings…lllleft that w-…we could…c-combine it wi-…with…," Rita reminded me, though she didn't sound happy about it either.

"Ah well." I shook my head as if shaking off the gloomy thoughts. "We saved Azurill, and that's what counts. We can live without a lot of Poké, right, Rita?"

"Mm-hm," Rita agreed, nodding and smiling. To my surprise, she kept talking. "B-but we…w-…wou-…wouldn't have…rrrrealized he…was…in t-t-t-trouble…w-without you," she pointed out shyly. "B-because you…had that…vision, w-…we were…thhhere…when Mmmmarill…c-came llllooking for…hhhelp."

"I guess that's true," I said slowly. In all the commotion, I honestly hadn't thought much about my vision, or whatever it was. "I don't get it, though. That first time, I only heard Azurill's voice; that second time, I actually saw what was going on, but it all happened in the future." As I spoke, I felt myself growing more and more lost. "How come I can do that? I'm not a Psychic-type Pokémon. I shouldn't be able to do something like that!"

"I…I d-d-don't…knnnow…," Rita admitted. She scrunched up her face, thinking deeply about it. With each passing second, she looked more bewildered.

We were interrupted by a rather loud gurgling noise. I jumped, startled out of my thoughts. I turned to look at Rita. She was blushing deeply out of embarrassment. "U-um…thhhat…was…mmmy ssstomach," she told me awkwardly.

My stomach took that as a cue and let out an even louder growl than Rita's. I shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "Heh…sorry. I'm _really_ starving."

Rita giggled. "I d-d-didn't think about it…unt-til now," Rita said. "I g-guess I was t-t-too…f-focused on rrrescuing Azurill to…nnnnotice." Her stomach growled again. "B-but now I'm rr_really_ hungry!"

"Nooo! You're making it worse!" I whined playfully. Rita hesitated at that, wondering if I was making a serious complaint, but it was only a second later before she smiled back. We were seeing improvement! I turned towards the ladder and started walking. "Hurry up!" I called over my shoulder. "Let's go see if there's any dinner left before Bidoof eats it all. Let's tell _everybody_ about what happened!"

Rita shook her head with an exaggerated sigh and a smile. "Okay," she giggled. The both of us headed inside, eager to share a meal and a story with our guildmates.

Later, at dinner, a flash of light lit the room, followed by a low rumble. Bidoof, Rita, and Chimecho jumped in their seats, looking around wildly. "Whoa!" I exclaimed, jumping down from my seat. "Was that thunder and lightning?"

"It sounded like it," Diglett piped up, looking a little nervous. I darted up to the window behind me and jumped, latching my paws onto the edge. The window was higher up on the wall then I was tall, so I was left dangling by my front paws, but only about an inch off the ground. The sky was mostly cloudy, with a line of dark, angry clouds on the horizon.

"There's a bunch of angry-looking clouds _way_ that-a-way," I announced, pointing with my tail to my left. "And they look like they're getting closer fast. They're coming to kill us! Run! Run for your lives!"

By now, everyone knew to ignore my weird comments. "Good thing everybody's back from their missions. Working in the rain's no fun," Corphish said, coming over to look out the window with me. "Hey, hey! She's right. That's one nasty-looking storm."

"We should tell ghost stories tonight," Charmander suggested with a grin.

"Do you guys get together _every_ night?" I asked. Back at the table, Loudred and Pikachu cracked up and then tried to hide it, though I had absolutely no idea what I said that was so funny. Guys are just weird….

"Nah. Only if there's a particular reason to," Charmander replied, shrugging and glaring at Pikachu. She made frantic slitting-throat gestures to make him and Loudred shut up.

"Stormy nights are really good for telling stories. We don't really get too many big storms around here, so we make use of them," Chimecho added. "I really don't like scary stories, though…."

"Oh my gosh, I _love_ ghost stories!" Sunflora cheered.

Bidoof shyly suggested, "Golly, maybe we ought to tell stories that _aren't_ scary tonight. Chimecho didn't get to come the last time, since Croagunk was telling some _reeeeally_ scary stories…." He shuddered at the memory of them.

"That sounds like a good idea," Diglett agreed before burrowing his way over to join the little group we were forming. "I want to tell nicer stories," he continued when he popped back up.

Loudred made the final decision. "Okay. We can tell REGULAR stories. But let's meet in the girls' dorm room tonight. We used OURS last night."

Sunflora frowned. "Oh my gosh—you can't just decide to use our room like that! You didn't even ask Chime and Andrea and me!"

"Why NOT?"

"That's just incredibly rude!"

I walked away from the window and back over to the table. "Wow…I forgot it was just last night that happened," I said to Rita over the loud argument.

"Mmme too," she replied. "It ssssseemed lllonger…," she commented, trailing off a little at the end. Her gaze was focused on Loudred and Sunflora, and judging from the expression on her face, their argument was troubling her.

I sighed. I cut into the argument before Loudred could make his latest retort. "All right, guys—why doesn't everybody just come to _our_ room?"

"Right, we're doing that," Charmander decided before anyone could say otherwise. No one seemed opposed to it. "Let's finish eating and meet up there, capiche?"

It was a fun night. All of the apprentices turned up at one point or another, including Diglett, Dugtrio, and Croagunk, who weren't among us the night before. We sat in a circle like we had then, but this time, instead of harassing Rita and me for background information, everyone was telling stories. Everybody got to tell one if he or she wanted to. We also played a game where everybody puts in one word to make a story. Rita sat out for that one; I guess she was feeling too shy to play. The story we made out of that game was really random. The gist of it was that an Infernape who lived in the ocean went to Amazing Incredible Pokémon Land and somehow blew up the atmosphere, and everyone had to stand on their heads and wear scarves over their mouths if they wanted to survive. Everyone died anyway. There was also one story that everybody seemed to know (except me, of course) and everybody took turns telling it. Even Rita participated in that. She seemed to like that story a lot, because she got pretty into it. It was about some really old kind of exploration team that saved the world by getting some kind of sky-god to blow up a star that was falling. The thing was, nobody agreed on what two Pokémon were the heroes. That struck me as a little weird, but whatever. As long as the exciting part where things exploded was there, I was good. Not long after that, Chatot came to tell us to go to bed, so that's when things wrapped up. Rita and I were a bit worn out from all the excitement. "Phew," I sighed as I sat down heavily on my bed. "That was a lot of stories."

"Y-yeah," Rita agreed from where she stood by the window. Just as she peeked over the edge of the sill, there was a bright flash of lightning, followed by a deafening _**CRACK**_!Rita gasped, and she fell into a sitting position out of shock.

I couldn't help but tease her. "Surprise!" I exclaimed, making dramatic "ta-da" gestures to go along with it.

Rita shot me a look saying that I was not funny. "Th-…the lllllightning's…rrrreally in-…int-t-t-tense," she stammered, still a little shaken up.

"We could only see flashes of light before, but now we can see lightning bolts," I commented, craning my neck to look out the window. Another lightning strike lit up the room. "Well, I just had a scary thought. You think we're safe here if the storm is so close?"

Rita nodded slowly. She hadn't moved from her place near the window. "I…I think. W-…we're…u-underground, sssso…w-we…we can't…g-get hit."

"Oh, good." I stretched out on my bed. "Man, I hope this thing blows over during the night. I love thunderstorms, but it will _not_ be fun to deal with rescuing people in this weather."

"Oh!" Rita suddenly turned towards me. "Th-…the nnnnight b-before w-…we mmmet…was…ssstormy, t-t-too." She pointed to the window with the leaf on her head. "J-…just llllike…nnnnow."

"Really?" I asked, sitting up again. "I didn't know that."

"I f-…found you…the nnnnext…mmmmorning…," Rita explained. She paused. "Um, K-Kai…," she began, "d-do you rrrremember w-…why you…were…thhhere?"

"Ummmm…." I sat and thought about it. _Before I met Rita, huh? Before I met Rita…hey, I _do _remember something…! _"The ocean!" I gasped. "Rita, I think I got caught in the ocean on that night!"

Rita's eyes grew wide. "Rrrreally?" she asked, hurrying up next to me.

"Yeah!" I exclaimed. "It's really fuzzy, but I think I remember the up-and-down motion of the waves." I paused. "I thought I was…drowning. Yeah…I remember that!"

Rita smiled widely. "Thhhat's…rrrrreally great!" she giggled. "You…rrrremember!"

"I do!" I lifted up my tail, looking for a high five. Or, well, whatever it was. "High…tail? Leaf? High tail-leaf?"

Rita giggled again. "J-just h-…hhhigh five. I knnnow th-…that's a…hhhuman thing." She held out her leaf, and I smacked it with my tail. It didn't make any noise, but it was the closest I could get to a proper high five without the two of us almost killing each other trying to clap our front feet together.

"Oh, yeah! That was good!" I cheered. "We should do that more often. Like every time we complete a mission!"

Rita blinked. "Y-you thhhink?"

"Yeah! We should cheer something when we high five, too," I went on eagerly. "Like 'Go, Team Aster!' or something."

Rita seemed to consider it for a moment. "O-okay," she finally decided, smiling.

"Yeah!" I cheered again. 'Now we've just gotta make it official!" We did one more high five as I exclaimed, "Team Aster, go!" By itself, it sounded lame, so I quickly improvised, "Uh…because we rock! Yay!"

Rita shot me another one of those "you're mentally disturbed" looks, but whatever her opinion of my addition, our very first victory pose was born.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Rita and I both jumped when a voice spoke up from our doorway. There stood Corphish, looking not so pleased.

"U-um…hhhhi, Corphish…," Rita greeted him sheepishly.

The clawed Pokémon didn't respond to her, instead getting right to his point. "Why are you making up victory poses _after_ Chatot told us to shut up?"

"Obviously because we rock," I told him, grinning winsomely. "Mere authorities have no authority over us! Oh…wait, that didn't come out right. What I _meant_ was—"

Corphish interrupted me with a huge sigh. "_Please_ shut up. Or at least talk more quietly. You'll get us all killed." Then he turned and scuttled back into the boys' room.

"I guess we should stop goofing around," I reluctantly told Rita. "We've gotta get up early tomorrow anyway." Rita nodded, and the two of us got settled in our beds.

It was quiet for a while, but we both knew neither of us were sleeping. There was just something that needed to be talked aobut, but neither of u really knew what it was. Rita happened to be the one who spoke up first. "K-Kai," she whispered, "…I thhhought of something."

"Yeah?" I asked, rolling over to face her.

"W-well…you ssssaid…you got…c-c-caught…in the o-ocean." Eagerly, she went on, "Hhhhumans…lll_live_ ac-c-cross the…ocean."

"Oh." At first I didn't really understand what she was getting at, but then it hit me. "_Oh_! I get it now!"

Rita nodded excitedly. "I thhhought…nmmaybe…you got…carried…away from annnother…i-island."

I frowned. "I…I don't know. Is that possible?" There was no answer. "I guess we can't rule it out. It's the best idea we've got so far. Do you think those weird vision-things I had would have anything to do with it?"

Rita lifted herself up slightly to look at me. "W-what…d-do you mmmean?" she asked, confused.

I fidgeted. "Well…I don't really know. I feel like I'm playing…connect-the-dots, I think it's called, only the dots aren't numbered and I can't figure out what dots are supposed to connect to which other ones to make the big picture." I was so focused on what I was talking about that I didn't even realize I'd somehow pulled out another random tidbit of human life. "I'm sure I have some of the answers. I mean, when I became a Skitty and lost my memory, I couldn't've just lost everything that made me, uh, me. There has to be some kind of clue, but I just can't figure out what."

"Mmmmaybe it…has t-t-t-to d-do w-…wi-…with you…p-p-personally." I blinked, staring at Rita with surprise. "I d-d-…d-don't knnnow…a-any other… P-Pokémon…who…ssssees the f-…future the w-…way…you d-d-do…e-even…Psssychic-t-t-types," she explained over another thunderclap, "and the…o-only hhhhuman I've e-ever hheard of…who…who t-turned…into a…P-…Pokémon isss…you…t-t-too." She paused, blushing again. "Sssso…I thhhought they might be…c-connected. Mmmmaybe…y-you could…d-d-do thissss…ssssseing-the-f-future…thhhing…as a hhhhuman."

"So the reason I can do that…you think it's 'cause I could do that as a human? Rita, you're a genius!" I exclaimed, awestruck. Rita blushed even darker, turning away again. "Why didn't I think of it? It makes so much sense! Humans, they ought to have some kinda leader-person, yeah? If they don't own many psychic Pokémon, then I bet a human who could tell the future would be pretty important to them." Speaking my thoughts out loud helped me work through them. "But then why would I end up here, and as a Skitty, of all things?" I wondered. "No offense to actual Skitties, of course…."

"Mmmmaybe…ssssomeone…d-didn't lllike wha-…what you ssssaw," Rita reluctantly suggested.

"Like a conspiracy?" I suggested. "Something like…say there's a king, and I saw that somebody was going to kill the king, but that person found out about what I saw and he or she tried to get rid of me before I could tell. Something like that?" Rita nodded. "Only thing is, what kind of person would be able to turn me into a Pokémon?" I asked, frowning. "Have you ever heard of anything like that before, Rita?"

"Nnnno…," Rita told me and shook her head.

"Me either. Unsurprisingly. Someone who could do that would have to be a mega-powerful." I sighed heavily. "All right, so say that we're on to something, thinking that I could see the future as a human. I think we are. I want to stick with that. Hm…I heard somebody at the bulletin boards talking about reincarnation, while we were waiting for Chatot but before you got there. I asked him what it was. Maybe he's right and you get reincarnated when you die, and I was just such a bad person that something went wrong and I got dumped into some poor, unsuspecting Skitty's body, took over, and all this is what came out of it."

Rita didn't speak for a minute. "I d-d-…don't…thhhink that could…hhhappen. I…I d-d-don't knnnnow…what…you w-…were llllike…as a hhhhuman, Kai…," she told me, "b-…but I think…you…were a g-…g-g-good p-person. B-b-because of your…v-vision…w-…we c-caught…D-Drowzee. I-if…if you're…rrright…and y-you were…a b-bad…p-p-person…inssside, you w-…would…wouldn't have…d-d-done thhhat." I could tell that she really meant what she was saying.

I smiled. "Okay. Thanks, Rita." This reminded me of something, though. "Hey…it was either Chatot or you who said that there were more bad Pokémon around because time was messed up or something, right?" I asked.

Rita sighed. "Y-yeah…t-t-time isn't w-…w-…working rrrright…in ssssssssome p-p-places. It's sssstopping…or slllowing d-down…or e-even…g-getting…ffffaster. It hhhhappens…mmmostly…wh-…where…mmmmystery d-dungeons…ssssshow up. Nnnnnobody knnnnows w-…why…b-but…mmmost P-…Pokémon thhink it has…sssssomething to d-do…wi-…with the…T-T-Time Gears."

Now there was something I hadn't heard about before. "Time Gears?" I asked, my ears pricking with interest. "What're those?"

"Llllots of…Pokémon…t-tell ssssstories…ab-b-bout them," Rita began softly. "Mmmy mom…t-told mmme that…they're hhhidden in…sssssssecret p-p-places a-…arou-…arrround the wo-world…llllike in a…b-big ffforest…or an u-…underground…lllake…or a…v-volcano."

"Whoa. That sounds so cool!" I gushed excitedly. I forced myself to keep my voice quiet. "What do they do, exactly? Are there a whole lot? Has anyone seen one before?"

Rita smiled. She seemed to be enjoying herself as she told the story. "The T-Time Gears…p-protect…t-t-time and…k-keep it…flllowing rrright w-…wherever…they are. Thhat's…why…why…why e-everyone isss…sssso…worried. T-time…shhouldn't be…mmmessed up. Thhhere are p-probably…a lllot…and nnnno…I…d-d-don't thhink…a-anyone'sss…ssseen one."

I pushed myself halfway up to listen better. "But if all this is just what's going on _with_ the Time Gears there, what happens if a Time Gear actually _goes missing_ from wherever it is?"

"I-I…don't knnnow," Rita admitted. She frowned. "B-but…I think…if a…Time G-Gear getsss…t-t-t-taken away…t-t-time will…p-probably sssstop there…."

I gasped loudly. Yeah, okay, I was getting pretty into this story. "For real?" I hissed nervously.

Rita nodded. "Y-yeah….Thhhat's why…nnnnobody…ever…g-goes lllooking for…for them. E-everyone…ssstays away and d-…doesn't…t-t-t-tamper with them. Even rrrreally bad c-criminals…wo-…would…would…nnnever…mmmess wi-with them."

"Thank goodness for that," I sighed.

Little did we know that far away from our cozy little room in the guild, Rita was about to be proven terribly wrong. In the deepest part of a forest, a solitary figure was running. The figure was doing his best to keep out of the rain and away from the tallest trees that could be struck by lightning, but before long all that was forgotten. As he neared the very heart of the trees, he spotted an unnatural glow. It could be only one thing, and he made a beeline for it.

The glowing item was floating above a deep pond. The strange light fell onto the driving rain, making every drop glitter like diamonds. Large stones were stuck in the ground along the edge of the water, a barrier of sorts. Completely soaked, they and the trees surrounding the pool of water were shining with the reflection of the unearthly light. Even if one were to see it without the added effects the rainstorm provided, the sight would have been incredibly breathtaking. The figure approached the pond almost reverently, stopping as close to the edge as he could get.

"Do my eyes deceive me?"

Thinking of the one who should have been with him, who should have been the one saying such a dramatic line, the figure stretched out his hands. In that person's memory, he continued with his theatrics.

"Could it be…?"

He leaned over the stones lining the edge of the pond. The tips of his fingers phased through the bluish-green pattern that surrounded the object.

"Yes, it is!"

The figure stretched farther, desperately grasping at the glowing object.

"I've finally found it!"

At last…at long last…its flailing hands snatched the shining object from its place. The light died away. In the figure's hands was a gear, looking like it was made of glass, or even light itself. It was fragile and beautiful, in a strangely terrible way.

"A Time Gear."

The figure sighed the name of its prize with relish. That which had once been thought impossible had been accomplished. It was in its hands. It was that Pokémon's to do with as he pleased. And no one could stop what was going to happen.

"This is only the first of many…."

Even as he darted off, away from the ocean of gray that was spreading out behind him, he bowed his head, remembering the one who should have been with him to see it happen.

* * *

**AN:/**

**Hi, everyone! I don't know if you all saw my note I added to the last chapter, but if you added this story to your alerts or something like that, you probably got a notice that another chapter had been added, and if you went to look there probably wasn't anything there. I am _REALLY _sorry about that. One of my sisters was watching me as I edited the last chapter and I was just about to post when my dad called me to do something for him, and since my sister knew how to post stuff I asked her to just do it for me. She decided to take the time to post another chapter telling you all to go read the edit. I was not very happy about that, as you can imagine. Anyway, in happier news, I leave for vacation at 6 this morning. It's almost midnight now, but I did promise you a chapter. Oh, and since I accidentally lied about giving Kai a present (it really comes _next_ chapter. oops...), you can all have an imaginary Evil Doctor Spinarak plush. Who can resist the figments of Kai's imagination? Or is it mine, since I imagined Kai? My imagination's imagination? Never mind, thinking about that is just weirding me out. Whatever, either way, you can have Evil Doctor Spinarak or a cookie or some Cater-pies or whatever it is you people fancy having. This part of the paragraph is where I'd normally say something about Rita and Kai's speculations and how awesome Grovyle is and all, but I'm mostly braindead right now and I don't have the mental capacity to do that right now. XD Oh, and before I forget, I noticed people are favoriting theis story and I wanted to thank everyone for doing that! Seriously, every time I get a notice in my email I go around telling my entire family, "a stranger I've never spoken to before likes my story! I'm so happy!" I'm happy that people are enkoying reading it! Thank you!**

**It's everyone's favorite time! Review time!**

HikariNoTenshi-San**: I think almost everyone would pity Rita for having to deal with Kai all the time…which is sort of weird for me to say since I share most of Kai's sense of humor….haha! XP**

Sweet but Psycho**: Oh, no, fail reviews are fine. Fail reviews tell me how stupid I'm being when no one else will. XD I got rid of the magical singing. All is well in Kai's world…insofar as Kai can be well, at least. I'm not sure if I'll go into the post-game storyline (gotta see how things work out with this one before I decide), but if I do, I already figure that Kai and Rita and company will only work with Drowzee out of necessity. They wouldn't be happy about it at all. And NO, gosh, no, ANYTHING but coffee. I don't even want to imagine that, let alone unleash it on the world. Oh, gosh, no. I'd be scarred for life.**

Mystery-Bright**: I'm with you on that one. I was extremely conflicted writing that. I was thinking, "The characters I'm writing about are abusing children—does that mean _I'm_ abusing children, indirectly?"**

**Well, that takes care of that. I'll be taking my laptop on vacation, so I'll be working on new chapters in my spare time. Which is odd to say. Isn't the point of a vacation to _have_ spare time? Modern vacations are like cramming an entire other life into the duration of your trip. Anyway, don't mind my rambling. Next up is the special episode for this chapter, and it features more of Kai being a cool friend (instead of acting like a complete moron all the time)! Stay tuned! And here's your random fact of the day!**

**Random Fact #20: **Rita used to have a fake pet. It was a brown rock. She doesn't remember it much because it was when she was pretty little, but she knows she named it Brock.


	21. Chapter 4: Gatekeepers

"_**WAKE UP! IT'S MORNING! LET'S GET GOING, EVERYONE!**_"

I squeaked, shooting into a sitting position in a split second. In the process, I managed to whip my up so quickly that it hurt, in addition to the ringing in my ears all that yelling caused. "Owww...," I whined, rubbing the side of my neck. "Now my ears _and_ my neck hurt..."

Right on cue, Loudred poked his head into the room. _**"WAKE UP!" **_he shouted, blasting my and Rita's eardrums with very painful noise.

I cringed, ducking my head to rub my ears. "Good morning to you, too," I grumbled. "You really enjoy this, don't you?"

He grinned. "Of course," he replied, and off he went down the hallway, yelling again that it was morning and we all needed to get up.

I looked over at Rita to see if she was up, though how she wouldn't be after all the yelling was beyond me. She was already on her feet, taking deep breaths. _Looks like Loudred almost gave her a heart attack_, I sighed to myself. "Good morning, Rita."

"G-good...mmmorning...," she replied breathlessly.

"I take it he startled you." Rita nodded. "Are you okay?" Rita nodded again. "Okay. That's good. Well, we better get going. Chatot might strangle us if we're late."

Rita slowly took in a breath and slowly let it out. "O-okay...Llllet's go."

About ten minutes later, the meeting was finishing up. Guildmaster Wigglytuff had been awake and said hello today, along with giving us a speech about missions and perfect apples that was actually kind of motivating—at least if you were like me and food served as a good reward for completing missions. Now we were chanting the code of conduct, and we were almost finished.

"..._AND_ _THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!" _we shouted, concluding the morning assembly.

Chatot called out, "Okay, Pokémon! Time to get to work!"

Everyone cheered, Chatot gave everyone else orders and told us to stay behind, so on and so forth. As the rest of the guild scattered, I looked over at Chatot to see him talking to Wigglytuff. I sighed and sat down heavily on the grassy floor. Rita looked at me oddly. I guess sitting on the floor is considered strange. "So, Rita, what do you suppose we're going to do today?"

Rita shrugged. "I...I'm nnnot...ssssure."

"Maybe a mission?" I suggested. "Half the guild went into the kitchen after Wigglytuff's speech, so with all of them distracted maybe we'd be able to get a good one." Chatot was finishing up his talk, so we would be finding out the answers to my questions soon. Wigglytuff laughed at something I didn't hear, said goodbye to Chatot, and headed off into his chambers. Chatot finally came over to talk to us about what he wanted us to do today. But before he could say anything, a loud shout rang out through the room.

"HEY, you two!"

Rita and I, being the only "two" someone could be calling for, looked over to the other side of the room where Loudred and Diglett were, only to see Loudred barreling over to us like his life depended on it. I took a step backwards out of reflex.

Loudred stopped about a foot away from us. "Um...hi, Loudred," I said confusedly, wondering what in the world could make him want to run over here like a madman.

Loudred completely ignored my greeting. "We need your HELP with something today!" he told us, jerking his head over towards Diglett, who was near the sentry tunnel, to indicate who the other half of "we" was. Almost before he finished talking, he started charging back over to the sentry hole. _Boy, someone's impatient..._, I thought to myself, rolling my eyes.

I glanced over at Chatot to make sure it was okay if we did whatever it was Loudred wanted us to do. "Go on," Chatot told us, waving one wing dismissively. "Loudred and Diglett _will_ need your assistance. That will be your task for today."

I nodded. "Okay. Come on, Rita!" I called over my shoulder as I followed Loudred (at a _much_ more sedate pace) over to the other side of the room.

"C-coming," she replied, hurrying after me.

Loudred and Diglett were both waiting by the sentry hole. Diglett was fidgeting a little, and Loudred was leaning against the wall with crossed arms, drumming his fingers. "You two are slow," Loudred informed us very bluntly when we approached him.

"Whatever you say," I sighed, shaking my head. "So, what's up?" I asked more cheerfully. "You guys look like you're in a hurry."

"You two are doing sentry duty today!" Loudred told us, pushing himself up off the wall.

Rita blinked, looking blank. "H-huh?"

Loudred sighed loudly. "Sentry duty. You two. Now."

"Wait, wait, wait," I interrupted. I glared at Loudred crossly. "You can't just _spring_ this on us!"

"Sure I can. I'm OLDER than you," Loudred retorted, matching my glare for one of his own.

"Shame on you, pulling age difference to take advantage of the new team," I taunted.

Loudred shook his head, seeming to enjoy our bickering. "Not so new."

"This might shock you, but this is only our third day as part of the guild," I replied. "We're still new." Luckily for him, I liked arguing over nothing, too. Rita, meanwhile, was turning her head back and forth with every comment.

"And in that time you caught an outlaw _Officer MAGNEZONE_ couldn't find." Loudred paused and raised one eyebrow. "Now you're saying you can't handle identifying Pokémon?"

"...Touché," I conceded with a little bow. "Don't you two normally do sentry duty?" I asked, indicating both Loudred and Diglett.

Diglett coughed awkwardly to get our attention. "We do," he agreed when Rita, Loudred, and I looked over. "I'm usually the one to go in the tunnel, but today my dad gave me his duty of updating the boards. That's why I can't man my post." He smiled shyly. "It'd be really great if someone could take over my sentry duty for today. That's why you're here. Would you both please take over my duty for today?"

I glanced over at Rita. "Are we up for it?" I asked her.

Rita nodded, albeit a little nervously. "Ch-Chatot...t-told us it w-...wa-...was our...t-t-t-task t-today...a-anyway...," she pointed out.

I blinked and thought back. "Huh. You're right. He did say that, didn't he?" I turned back to Diglett. "Okay, we can take care of it," I agreed.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed. "I have to go, then. Loudred can tell you what to do." With that, Diglett burrowed his way out of the room. I got distracted watching the hole he left behind magically filling up with dirt. I had to wonder what it was that was kicking the dirt into place. Did Diglett have feet?

"And that's THAT," Loudred smugly declared, crossing his arms and looking pleased for whatever reason.

I jerked my head up. "Wait. What's _what_?" I asked, completely confused by this latest remark. "I don't understand!" I whined. There was a pause, and, in a compulsive need to fill the silence, I continued, "I'm confused!"

Without any warning, Loudred let out a loud roar of frustration. The room literally shook with the noise. Rita gasped with shock and the both of us fell over from a combination of the quaking and being startled so badly. "_Shut your YAP!_" Loudred growled, sounding very irritated. "_**NO MORE BELLYACHING! GO DO YOUR DUTY!**_" he yelled at us.

Across the room, Croagunk started laughing. I shot him the dirtiest look I could manage and tried to look dignified as I got to my feet. "Shut up, Croagunk. That was _not_ funny. And Loudred, you didn't even tell us what to _do_ yet! We _can't_ do our duty! _We don't know what to do!_" I emphasized.

Loudred paused. His expression looked blank. "...Oh."

If I had hands, I would have dropped my face into them out of frustration. That or strangled Loudred. "That's it? 'Oh'? After _all that_?"

Needless to say, some of us needed a moment to calm down, but after sufficient time to do that I was ready to ask my question. "Okay," I breathed out. "Okay, so what is it you need us to do?"

Loudred shrugged. "Climb down the hole and stand guard. You're on sentry duty!"

I struggled not to get annoyed all over again by this response. "Yes, we understand we're on sentry duty," I said through gritted teeth.

"P-please t-tell us...w-wha-...w-what we...hhhave to do ins-...-ssside the...t-t-tunnel," Rita cut in, probably in order to avoid getting me frustrated all over again. I was completely for that, because that might not end well for Loudred.

"You EVALUATE visitors' footprints," Loudred explained, completely oblivious to my not so happy thoughts. "You had YOUR footprints evaluated when you first CAME here, right?"

I thought back to the day we'd joined the guild, distracted from how annoyed I was getting. "Ummm...oh, right! That hole in the ground with the grating, you mean? Ugh, I hated that thing."

"I-I rrrremember that," Rita agreed.

Loudred nodded. "Right. We can't have suspicious characters coming into the guild. We DON'T want to give information about our MISSIONS to the wrong sorts of Pokémon. So we station a sentry below the guild entrance to evaluate POKÉMON visitors."

"So if Diglett was the one checking our footprints...oh, that means _you_ were that other Pokémon screaming up at us!" I realized aloud. "It all makes so much sense now!" Loudred glared at me. "Um, _so_...you want us to climb down this hole," I said, moving on. "What then?"

"The tunnel down there leads to the SENTRY post," Loudred went on. "Once you go down it, just follow where it goes. It's a one-way ROAD in there. It'll take you to a bunch of vines. Once you climb up them, you'll get to a LEDGE that lets you see up and through the grate. THAT'S the sentry post. From there, you inspect the footprints of visitors, identify them, and INFORM me. Then I decide if the Pokémon is suspicious or not and OPEN the gate if he passes muster." He shrugged again. "We serve as the guild's GATEKEEPERS. That's the gist of it."

I nodded confidently. "Got it." Then I paused. "Um...no, wait, I'm lost. I don't get it." Both Loudred _and_ Rita shot me a look of exasperation this time. "I can't really help it that I can't follow a long explanation that's thrown at me without any time to process all the little details," I defended myself.

Loudred shook his head in disbelief. "Look, all you two have to do is INSPECT the footprints of visitors, then tell me what POKÉMON they are," he told us with exaggerated patience. "All right? Understood?"

"Roger that," I replied cheekily, saluting with my tail. A short explanation like that I was good with.

"Y-yes," Rita agreed.

Loudred grinned. "Good! Then let's get to WORK!" he directed with a fist pump. "Buck up and do a GOOD job!"

"Go, Team Aster!" I exclaimed, high fiving Rita, who was unprepared for the out-of-the-blue cheer and almost missed her cue. "Because we're completely and totally awesome! We're definitely going to get everything right!"

We made our way down the first vine ladder, and then proceeded down the tunnel. We found the second vine ladder without too much trouble, but once we began climbing it we realized that the dim light the entrance was letting in wasn't going to last us all the way up.

"I-it's...p-p-pitch blllack in here...," Rita commented, sounding nervous.

"We'll just have to feel our way to the ledge," I sighed. "You know, Loudred, if we get killed finding our way around in here, I'm blaming you!" I shouted over my shoulder. My voice echoed a bit.

"Okay, have FUN then!" Loudred shouted back at me, sounding far off. His voice echoed, too, which was cool. I rolled my eyes at him even though he couldn't see it and suppressed the urge to yell at the top of my lungs so I could hear my voice echo.

Thankfully, Rita and I managed to get onto the ledge without much trouble. We then started feeling our way along the sides of the tunnel. As we walked, it began getting a little lighter with every step we took. Eventually, we could see where we were going again.

"O-oh! K-Kai, I ssssee...lllight!" Rita exclaimed all of a sudden. "Up a-ahead!"

"Really?" I peered more closely into the distance. "Huh...look at that." Rita was right. It was far off, but far off a beam of light was definitely falling onto the ledge. We picked up the pace. As we got closer, we could see that it was a perfect circle crossed with shadows that divided it into grids. It was definitely the grate in front of the entrance. "Nice eye, Rita," I told her as I moved to stand under the grate. I looked up. The grate wasn't all that far above us. It'd be easy to make out whoever was standing above it, as long as the sun wasn't directly over the hole. Luckily, since it was early morning, the sunlight wasn't even close to that point.

"Huh? Oh...um...th-thanks," Rita stammered.

"So, how're we gonna do this?" I asked, turning to face her. "The identifying, I mean, since there's two of us. Should we take it in turns?" I frowned. "Thing is, I don't know if I'm going to be able to recognize Pokémon by their footprints..." Now that I thought about it, even though Chatot had told us to, agreeing to do sentry duty may not have been a good idea.

"W-well..." Rita thought about it for a moment. "Wwwwe can...p-probably...sssee the Pokémon as...lllong as the ssssun's...nnnnot d-d-directly...o-over us. W-we can...t-t-take...turns 't-til then...A-after that, I-I can...d-d-do the...identifying," she offered. "Y-you can t-tell...Llllloudred w-...wh-...who it is. Is thhhat okay?"

I nodded, feeling a little relieved. "Okay. That sounds good. I'll go first and see how I do." Rita nodded.

Loudred's voice, sounding very far off now, interrupted our conversation. "HOW'S IT GOING?" he shouted to us. "Have you taken position at the sentry post?"

"Yeah, we're good!" I shouted back. There was no answer, so I repeated my message louder. Apparently you needed to be _very_ loud in order for Loudred to hear you from here.

"GOOD!" Loudred called back. "Pokémon visitors will step onto the grill above the sentry post! Identify them by footprint, then inform me! Got that?"

"Yes!" Rita shouted back to him, blushing as if she found yelling to be embarrassing. Sometimes I really didn't understand Rita...

"All set!" I agreed.

"GOOD! Let's get started! Try not to mess up, OKAY?"

"That's a _great_ note to start off on," I grumbled, my voice practically dripping with sarcasm. Rita giggled quietly. With that, we started our work.

At first, it wasn't too busy. The only Pokémon who walked over the grate were guild apprentices who needed to stock up on their supplies and were heading out to Treasure Town. Since it was just a little after dawn and all, the sun wasn't shining directly on them, so I could make out the color of the Pokémon who was standing on the grate looking to go back inside. I looked at the footprints too, of course, since I was going to need to recognize them and all. Rita was checking the footprints with me, just to be sure, but she didn't say anything until I named what Pokémon I thought was standing above us. Then she'd say who she thought it was and why, always making comments about what she noticed about the footprints. She didn't say so, but I got the impression she was trying to help teach me to recognize them in a discreet way, which I appreciated. I don't like to be helped outright.

Once the sun was completely over the horizon, however, we were completely bombarded with visitors. It never seemed to end! Some of them went in, came out, and then came back not even ten minutes later! Thankfully, we were able to identify each of the Pokémon seeking entrance, but most of the credit for that goes to Rita. While I was struggling to make out the shape of the Pokémon, since I had no idea what the feet of each one looked like, Rita had it figured out in about five seconds. She was awesome. Eventually I just let her handle it and took over shouting out the names to Loudred.

By midday, most Pokémon and teams were out on missions, and there was barely any traffic at all. Chatot and Wigglytuff went in and out of the guild a couple of times, but that was about it. Rita and I, in the meantime, spent our time hiding in the shadows to avoid going blind from the sunlight. Well, I did; Rita sometimes went into the sun because she photosynthesizes as well as eats. Isn't that cool? I didn't know she could do that, but I guess it makes sense since she has that huge leaf growing on her head and all. Anyhow, we killed some time by talking to Loudred and to each other. We officially exchanged names (his was Louder) while we were at it. Apparently he lived near some old ruins and that's what made him interested in being part of an exploration team and therefore in joining the guild. He said he would have graduated the guild a couple months ago but that "something happened" during the exam, and now he's killing time by doing sentry duty with Diglett until he can try again. He liked it, though, and he and Diglett seemed to be good friends.

At some point during the afternoon, Rita asked me a very significant question. After getting my attention, she asked, "Um...I was w-...wo-...wondering...um, d-d-do you w-...want to...lllearn to rrrread? And wrrrrite?" she added as an afterthought.

I blinked. "...Are you serious?" Rita nodded. "Well, yeah! Definitely! I hate not being able to read about these missions Chatot gives us."

"O-...okay," Rita agreed, smiling. "W-...we can...sssstart...lllater, if you w-...want."

"Sounds good," I agreed, grinning back. "I'll look forward to it!" Weird person/Pokémon that I might be, I enjoy learning new things.

Not long after that the rush started back up again. As it got closer to sunset, Pokémon were going in and out of the guild at a rapid pace. Rita managed to keep everything moving smoothly. It was seriously impressive. I felt useless not being able to help except to call out the names of the Pokémon passing over the grate, but Rita insisted that it was fine and that just telling Loudred the names was plenty, since she (unsurprisingly) wasn't very good with the yelling part.

As the sun started dipping below the horizon, something popped out of the ground next to me. I yelped with surprise and jumped about a foot away. It was Diglett who had surprised me. "Sorry!" he apologized, looking sheepish.

"I-it's okay," I replied, trying to calm myself down.

Diglett smiled. "I can take over for you now. Thanks for your help, Skitty, Chikorita."

"No problem!" I replied, relaxing. Rita smiled back at him as her acknowledgement.

"Chikorita and Skitty!" Loudred called to us. "That'll do it! Now get back here!"

I grinned at Rita. "Looks like we're done. Ready to go?"

"D-definitely...," Rita muttered, already walking towards the way out.

As we climbed out of the tunnel, we were greeted by Chatot. What a surprise. "You've worked an honest day, you two!" he chirped approvingly.

"As opposed to what? A _dis_honest day?" I asked. It was a genuine question. That was one idiom I just did not understand. How does honesty relate to working? Is it supposed to be like "hey, I didn't lie about how much I worked today?" Why would you lie about that in the first place? 'Cause if you didn't really do anything and you lied to get credit, then that's just not fair. I don't get that.

"You worked hard, as opposed to _not_ working hard," Chatot sighed, interrupting my mental dissection of the phrase. "Well, Loudred? How did they fare?" Chatot asked the elder apprentice.

"GREAT! They took their time about it, but they didn't make a single mistake," Louder boasted.

"Not a single misidentification?" Chatot clarified, looking pretty darn impressed. Louder nodded. "Well, well!" Chatot turned to us. "Nicely done, you two! This is most impressive!"

I smiled and nudged Rita forward. Rita glanced back at me with a startled look. "That's thanks to Rita. I'm not very good at the identifying, but Rita's really, _really_ great at it." Rita blushed deeply. "I mostly just called out names."

"Even so, I heard the both of you discussing the identifications," Chatot pointed out. "Therefore, you both put in good work for today, and we will reward your effort! Generously, I might add!" Chatot, I had just noticed, was carrying a sack, and he placed it on the ground in front of us. "You all deserve an especially large reward for a very successful first time as sentries!"

"Thank you!" I replied happily. I reached out for the bag, but then paused. I looked back up at Chatot. "...I _am_ allowed to take this _whole_ bag, right?"

"Did I not say you deserve a large reward?" he sighed. "Yes, the whole bag is yours and I won't be taking any of it away."

"Cool!" I quickly snatched the bag up before he could change his mind. Louder chuckled as I dove into it and Rita looked on interestedly. "Okay, so first there's these two seeds." I pulled them out.

Rita's eyes grew really wide. "_Those are a life seed and a joy seed!_" she whispered to me rather excitedly. "_The first one makes you stronger, and the second one makes you able to withstand more hits. They're really hard to find._"

"Sweet," I whispered back. "Next there's this bottle." I tossed that next to the seeds.

"_That's ginseng_," Rita explained just as excitedly. "_It makes one of your moves stronger. This is hard to get, too._" It was nice to see Rita get so excited over these rewards, but it was all apparently rare items and I was feeling kind of guilty taking all this.

"Okay. The last thing is...Poké!" I pulled the smaller money bag out of the bigger item bag. I looked over at Chatot before I opened it. "Do we need to hand it over so you can take the guild's share?"

Chatot sighed, again. "No. That's honestly all yours."

"Yaaaaay!" I cheered, and in celebration of this fact I proceeded to dump out the contents on the floor. "It's raining Poké!" Chatot rolled his eyes. I looked over at Rita, who was gathering the scattered coins and counting them.

"_Five hundred_," she whispered.

Our total haul was two very rare seeds, a very rare drink of some sort, and as much Poké as we'd gotten from our first two jobs combined. This fact took a second or two to sink in.

"I can't take all that!" I exclaimed once it did. Now I was feeling _extremely _guilty. Rita looked up with surprise. "All this rare stuff and the Poké, it's too much!"

"Not when you split it BETWEEN you two," Louder pointed out. I guess he got where I was coming from. "That's one item for each of you, with one left over, and 250 Poké EACH."

I looked at the items thoughtfully. Thinking of it that way did make it seem a little less impressive. "...Okay. I feel better thinking of it like that." Not completely, but it did help a little.

Chatot nodded. "Good. Keep up the good work, you two!" He hopped away towards the guildmaster's chambers.

"Wow. We were praised not once, but multiple times during the last five minutes," I commented. "We really must have done something good."

"You did," Louder replied. "Not many Pokémon handle SENTRY duty so well. Diglett and I were TRAINED first, but you didn't have the chance."

"Hey, you all! Kai and Rita!" A voice called to us from the ladder leading to the upper floor. We looked over to see Bidoof heading over to us with someone in tow. He was creeping close to Bidoof and trying to hide, but I could very clearly see his ears.

"Hi, Bidoof. How are you today? You seem to have grown a pair of round, blue ears," I commented casually. The owner of the blue ears giggled loudly, as did Rita.

"Huh? What do you—oh! Golly, how strange!" Bidoof agreed, catching on. The blue-eared "mystery" Pokémon laughed louder. "How could that have happened?"

"Have you eaten any weird gummis lately?" I asked him.

"Oof! I don't think so," Bidoof replied, smiling. "Maybe it's just the ears of the Pokémon behind me."

Marill popped out from behind Bidoof very dramatically. "Hi, Miss Skitty! Hi, Miss Chikorita!" he exclaimed, waving at Rita and I with his only free hand. The other he was hiding behind his back.

"Oh, my gosh! Hi, Marill! You surprised me!" I greeted him, hiding my unease at his presence. Seeing his presence so soon after the kidnapping was a little worrying, even though he seemed cheerful enough. "Is everything okay? Where's Azurill?"

Marill looked very pleased that he'd managed to "surprise" me. "Azure's okay. He was still kind of scared from yesterday so he wanted to stay home," he replied. "Mother didn't want him to go, anyway. She had me walk here with a neighbor and I didn't even get hurt." Then he fidgeted a little shyly. "Um, Azure and I wanted to give you guys something for helping us." With a clumsy flourish, he shoved a small package in our direction. Well, actually, it was less of a package than it was something round crudely wrapped in a red cloth.

I smiled widely and exchanged a glance with Rita. _He's so cute! _"Thank you, Marill!" I said, taking the gift. "Should we open it?"

"Yeah! Open it now!" he cheered. We did. Removing the cloth, we discovered an apple. "Azure and I used our allowance to buy it," he boasted.

"Thh-...thhhank you!" Rita said, smiling as well.

"That's very nice of you two," I told him. "You didn't have to get us anything."

"We wanted to!" he insisted.

"Well, thank you for that. Now we won't get hungry on a mission." I picked up the cloth. "Do you want this back?" I asked, offering it to him.

He shook his head. "Uh-uh. That's for you guys from Azure. It's his superhero cape!"

"It's a superhero cape?" I asked excitedly. Marill nodded. I laid the cloth on the ground to see it better. It was basically just a square of red cloth. I also noticed that two of the corners were wrinkled, as if they'd been tied together for a long time.

"He said he wants real superheroes to wear it," Marill added as an afterthought.

I squirmed under the cloth to get it on my back. "Dude, tie this for me!" I ordered Louder, who was the only one hanging around who had actual hands.

He eyed the cape oddly. "Are you serious?"

"I am dead serious."

Louder rolled his eyes, but he did tie it for me, just tight enough that it wouldn't fall off but still loosely enough that I could just slip out of it whenever I wanted. "Okay, now take my explorer badge off Rita's bag and pin it on the knot!"

"I'm NOT your servant, you know!" Louder protested, but he did what I asked anyway since he knew that, other than Marill, he was the only one with hands.

To celebrate, I hummed a triumphant tune. "This thing is awesome! I love superhero capes!" I struck a (hopefully heroic) pose. "How's it look?"

"Ridiculous," Louder muttered, walking off, but Marill shouted, "Cool! You look like a real superhero!"

"Why thank you!" I bowed dramatically. "And shut up, Louder!" I stuck my tongue out at his back.

Marill giggled. "I have to go home now," he told us. "Me and my neighbor have to get dinner for everyone while we're out."

"Okay," I replied, smiling. "Thank you for bringing us these wonderful presents! Tell Azurill we'll take good care of his superhero cape."

"Thanks," Rita added.

"Bye!" he said, heading off to the ladder.

"Bye!" we called after him.

Once he was gone, I turned to Rita. Reluctantly, I offered, "You want a turn with the superhero cape?"

Rita shook her head. "I-...it sssssuits you," she said, shaking her head. "Llllet's...g-go get d-d-dinner."

I practically ran for the dining hall at those words. "Yeah! I can show everyone my super cool superhero cape!" I _really_ liked this cape, if you haven't caught on yet. And just so you know, I was going to wear it on every mission from then on. Super Kai to the rescue!

Rita sighed, shaking her head. She still wasn't used to my brand of normalcy yet, but she would learn. Mark my words.

* * *

**AN:**

**Hi, everyone! I meant to get this chapter up last week, but the internet wasn't working right, and now it's the Week of All-Nighters, now that the Pottermore quill thing is going on. The clues cropped up at almost-four and five in the morning for me, so after a grand total of seven hours of sleep in two days I was completely unmotivated until about twenty minutes ago. I know you were probably expecting a Special Episode, but since Chapter 4 is so short I wanted to get it out of the way. The next Special Episode takes place not long after this, anyway. So, do you like Kai's present? I have to admit, I was iffy on that, just because of the even more ridiculous behavior Kai's going to display. XD**

**Review time!**

HikariNoTenshi-San**: Very good on catching that—it's deliberate! =]**

adventurerXD**: I was playing the first game not too long ago, which is what inspired the reference. Then I got stuck. All of the nostalgia has been ruined by my anger. XD**

Mystery-Bright**: True, that. I'd hate to unleash Kai on the world, especially with that new superhero cape...**

TobyTse99**: Thanks for the encouragement! The Japanese aspect wasn't actually deliberate; I was looking for names that had something to do with water or the ocean and they're the ones that sounded nicest to me. They just all happened to be Japanese. XD**

**Next time, we'll take a trip into the mind of Charmander. After they suffer from some prank-related trauma for most of it, there will be happy, friendshippy moments for Team Aster. Yay for friendship! Oh, and I haven't said anything lately since nothing's changed, but don't forget about the poll on my profile! It's still going! I decided that each choice needs ten votes for that pairing to definitely be featured in the story. Anything else is up to my discretion. I'm pretty sure I have at _least_ that many people following this story, so ten votes seems reasonable, right? The poll is going to be taken down on September 3! I can't see who votes or what each person votes for (or even get notified when someone does), so if any of you lurkers are out there worried about me discovering you, I will have no idea whether you vote or not, so do it. PEER PRESSURE~**

**Random Fact #21 (god, this story's getting long):** Kai has a reason for her love of superhero capes, even if she doesn't know what the connection is right now.


	22. SPECIAL EPISODE 3: Team Virtue

_The Special Episode  
"Team Virtue"  
stars Charmander as the main character._

_You will progress through the story with  
Charmander as the playable character.*_

* * *

There's a long-standing tradition at this guild of ours, and it is known as hazing.

...Well, okay, I guess you can't really say we're _hazing_ anyone. Compared to the traditional usage of the word, it's really more like picking on them. But hazing sounds more threatening, so that's the word we use. It scares the new recruits. Anything that does that is a very good thing.

When Kacha the Pikachu and I joined up as Team Virtue, just like how it is now, most of the apprentices were training as individuals, not teams. There was only one other team there aside from us. It was called Team Earth, made up of a Cubone and a Bulbasaur. The two of them—well, they were pranksters. Big pranksters and goofballs. You want to know why Chatot doesn't trust any of us apprentices not to make fools of ourselves? Other than Kacha and I, and Croagunk and the potentially dangerous stunts he pulls, you can blame most of Chatot's distrust of us on Team Earth, because they _did_ make fools of themselves. They made it a routine. They stuck Cheri berries up their noses and left them there for so long that they forgot and went to meet clients like that. They also hid Guildmaster Wigglytuff's perfect apples, though that was only once and we _all_ learned _never_ to do that or _really_ bad things would happen. I could list more, but that would probably be boring. Team Earth did a lot of things like that, really. Most importantly, though, they would harass, stalk, and otherwise disturb the new apprentices as a sort of initiation ceremony.

Kacha and I, well, we've taken it upon ourselves to carry on this necessary practice...all for the sake of the newcomers, of course. So imagine our excitement when one day Chatot started up the morning assembly with these words:

"We have two new apprentices joining us today."

Kacha and I exchanged a grin. The last (and only) time we'd had anyone to tease had been sometime last year, when Bidoof had joined. It had been fun, at least for us. Bidoof had been a bit emotionally scarred by the experience, but it wasn't _my_ fault he'd gotten so paranoid when I was stalking him. I wasn't _actually_ going to kill him. Okay, so maybe cornering him and holding up a sharp rock wasn't going to convince him otherwise, but we can blame Kacha for that situation, since he wasn't there to stop me.

But I digress. Anyway, the hazing ritual for our newest targets started at the big feast we had the night Skitty and Chikorita joined. They were sitting directly across from us, and as such Kacha and I had a very good opportunity to be creepy. Every so often Kacha and I would force our expressions to go blank and try not to blink, and we would stare at them across the table. Skitty was completely oblivious to this (and how she didn't notice us even _once_ completely baffles me), but Chikorita was visibly disturbed by our behavior. She was completely paranoid for the rest of the night and kept watching us out of the corners of her eyes with this look on her face that clearly said that she thought we were something like zombies, planning to eat her. Team Virtue: 1, Team Aster: nada.

Chatot kept the kids busy for a few days, so we didn't get the chance to do very much to them, other than the weird staring at dinner (which was making Chikorita more and more paranoid by the day; she didn't even talk to Skitty much when she was in our presence). Once Chatot allowed them to choose their own missions, though, their schedule was a little more flexible—or at least they weren't shadowed by Chatot every waking moment. It gave us the chance to pick on them without getting caught. Jumping out from around corners, we discovered, was very effective, and the hallway leading to the bedrooms was a good place to do it.

"Boo!"

Chikorita, who was heading into said hallway, yelped loudly. She was so startled that she collapsed on the floor and didn't get up.

As always, Skitty was not far behind, wearing her bright red superhero cape. "Was that really necessary?" she demanded, crouching down to try and rouse Chikorita. The grass-type Pokémon was trembling.

"It is if you care about the safety of your cape," I threatened, making sure she wouldn't interfere. It was sure to work; Skitty was already unhealthily attached to that cape. Seriously, in the week or so since she'd gotten it, I haven't seen her _not_ wearing it, and the ideas the stupid cape gave her were causing problems for everyone. Pokémon coming and going from the bottom floor had to be extremely careful and look before they climbed up, since Skitty frequently liked to jump down from the upper floors (while loudly singing for dramatic effect), with Rita racing after her, practically crying with exasperation. You can't blame poor Rita for being so upset; I mean, when I say Skitty did that frequently, I mean _frequently_. In the combined six hours of freedom Team Aster had over two days, Skitty managed to jump down from the upper floors a grand total of thirty-two times. All of us, including Chatot and the Guildmaster, were knocked off the ladder at least once and subsequently "saved" by "Super Kai." Bidoof alone was practically flattened at least five times. The poor guy is now afraid of ladders.

While Skitty shot me a look of pure horror, Kacha protested, "Um, Andrea, I think we almost killed Chikorita. I seriously think she stopped breathing for a second there. At least be sorry for _that_."

"Well, okay, we weren't trying to scare anyone to_ actual _death...but this routine is definitely necessary," I insisted.

Skitty now leveled the two of us with a very concerned look. I'm not sure whether she was more worried about herself, Rita, or her cape. "We're actually going to need to watch our backs, aren't we?" she sighed. It was more of a nervous statement than a question. Next to her, Chikorita had finally calmed down some and gotten to her feet.

"Gee, I don't know why you'd think that." I innocently glanced around.

"Sorry for scaring you that badly," Kacha apologized to Chikorita.

"U-um...i-...it's...okay...," Chikorita stammered back, not meeting his eyes.

Despite Kacha's apology, the both of us continued our pranks. The next thing we did was the best. On the same day as the one the previous conversation occurred on, we shoved luminous orbs under both their beds and set them up to go off a little after bedtime. It was extremely entertaining watching the blindingly bright light stream out from their doorway and into the hallway, followed by shouts of panic. Both the sudden light and Team Aster's yelps prompted all of the other apprentices to make their way over to try to figure out what was going on. Since the light was too bright for anyone to actually be able to see, this led to a lot of walking into walls and tripping over other Pokémon. Chatot was not pleased by the situation at all, but even when the used-up luminous orbs were found, he had no proof or witnesses to say that it was Kacha and I who were responsible. We pulled it off without a hitch. Team Virtue scores again!

After the incidents in the hallway and especially with the luminous orbs, Chikorita and Skitty had taken to staying in open and brightly lit areas as much as they possibly could. That nixed the whole "jump out from around a corner" idea, but it presented other opportunities, since Treasure Town was one of their favorite wide-open hiding places. I don't think they had a clue why we were asking, but the Kecleon brothers made the mistake of letting Kacha and I hide behind their counter. Skitty and Chikorita were shopping for their supplies and happily chatting with the two shopkeepers when we burst out, screaming bloody murder.

Chikorita collapsed out of fright (again) and started shaking (again). Skitty jumped backwards, looking shocked, and cursed loudly. Pokémon in the surrounding areas stared at them. Priceless. Oh yeah, we got them good!

Skitty paused to take in a few deep breaths. Even Chikorita was recovering faster than her. "Seriously, guys?" she wheezed. "That is so not cool."

"Sorry," Kacha apologized. Again.

"Why are you apologizing?" I sighed, already exasperated. I never understood why Kacha always felt the need to apologize for every little thing. "There's no point. We're going to scare them again anyway."

"P-please...d-d-don't!" Chikorita begged us. She sprang to her feet. Her eyes were wide with desperation, and at her own words she shook even more violently than before. The Kecleon brothers started asking questions, like if she was okay and crap like that.

Skitty glanced over at Chikorita. Her expression grew thoughtful, then determined. "Hey, Rita...can you finish up here?" Still being interrogated by the two Kecleon, Chikorita only nodded. "I'll be back," Skitty told her. She turned and stalked off towards the guild. "Let's go. You two need to come with me."

We followed after her at a slow pace, and once she was a decent distance away from us, I sighed heavily. "I think we're missing something big here," I said to Kacha. I didn't think about lowering my voice, but I didn't care whether anyone was listening or not, either. "A private conversation? This is a weird reaction to a joke."

"Glad it's not just me who thinks so," Kacha agreed in a whisper. He was glancing over his shoulder back at Chikorita, trying to make the connection. Judging from his confused expression, he wasn't having much success.

"Here's good." Skitty stopped abruptly in the town square. She was quiet for a moment, but it didn't last very long. "Listen...don't kill my cape for sayign this, but you can't pull pranks on Rita anymore."

"What? Why not?" I demanded. I was not very happy now that all the fun was being taken away. "It's tradition. Just talk to Bidoof. _Everyone_ goes through it."

Skitty sighed. She glanced around, as if to make sure no one was listening in. "You can keep pranking me, as long as Rita's not around. It's sort of fun for me, but...it's just that...Rita gets nervous or anxious a lot, but she doesn't actually get _really_ scared very often. I figured out that her legs give out only if she's seriously freaked. And I know Rita mentioned once that she was picked on by a lot of the Pokémon around here. I think all the pranks are something that happened a lot to her and that's why she's getting so scared by it. So it'd be nice if you wouldn't do it anymore."

Kacha grinned. "Wow. You guys have only known each other for a little more than a week, but you're already really good friends, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Skitty looked as if the answer to his question should be obvious. "Well, uh, yeah."

"Okay. In that case, we'll leave her alone," Kacha agreed cheerfully. He was prefectly happy to ease up on Chikorita, whereas I was extremely disappointed, but he was also (I'm not afraid to admit it) a nicer person than me. We really were a lot different than each other, but even so, Kacha and I rarely ever argued—unlike Sunflora and Loudred, who were obviously in denial about the crushes they had on each other. Not that there's any kind of comparison to Kacha and I in that. If anyone suggests that, that Pokémon will be seeing stars, I swear to Arceus.

Anyway...I sighed heavily. Kacha had agreed, and no amount of pressure from my end would prevail over the fact that he had verbally said that we would knock it off, so trying to convince him otherwise was a lost cause. Kacha refused to break his word, no matter what. Didn't matter, as I had a wonderful idea of who to take out my frustration on. "Hey, did Chikorita ever mention who picked on her?" I asked, seemingly offhandedly.

Skitty looked confused. "Uh, no, she just mentioned that she got picked on a lot. It wasn't like we had a conversation about it or anything. It was just kind of a passing comment. Why?"

"Just wondering if it was anyone I recognized," I asked as Kacha shot me a knowing glance. I shook my head slightly. He nodded. "Anyway, we'll lay off on the pranks and the weird staring." Kacha tilted his head in Kecleon Market's direction. I shook my head again. Kacha gave me a discreet thumbs-up. We both understood exactly what the other meant by all these gestures. Kacha and I were good at having our own silent conversations.

"Weird staring?" Apparently Skitty still hadn't realized what was going on at dinner. It was seriously weird how she could effortlessly offer these insights into Rita and at the same time be completely oblivious to what's going on right in front of her face. "Whatever, I don't think I want to know. Anyway, thanks for promising not to pick on Rita anymore," she said, smiling. "I'm going to go back to Kecleon Market now. After all this excitement, the Kecleon brothers might take pity on us and try to sneak things into our bag again..." She sighed heavily at the thought and started heading off. "Bye."

"Good luck on your mission today!" Kacha called after her.

"Mm-hm. You too!" she shouted back without turning her head, but she waved her tail in farewell.

I smiled wickedly. "Well, we have some business to take care of," I announced, cracking my knuckles.

"Yup!" Kacha agreed. His cheek pouches sparked in anticipation. Although he was usually the biggest goody-two-shoes ever to exist, at least he had his love of pranks to redeem his character. "What about talking to Croak first? He might have something potentially dangerous yet very effective that we could use, although we don't want anything potentially lethal."

I nodded thoughtfully. "That's true. Croak always has nifty stuff in that cauldron of his. Maybe he still has some of that green gunk he threw in Kangaskhan Storage. Think it's toxic? Something extremely poisonous would be good..."

Kacha looked very concerned by that suggestion. "That would count as potentially lethal. You weren't serious, were you, Andrea?"

I shrugged. "Well, yeah, sort of. I mean, they did pick on one of us. But if you're not going to do it with me, then there's no point. No fun in poisoning the residents without someone to enjoy it with."

Kacha sighed dramatically. "You see? This is why you need me around, so you won't go around slandering our names by massacring the Pokémon of Treasure Town or stabbing Bidoof with sharp rocks," he teased.

"I told you I wasn't really going to stab him!" I protested loudly.

"Sure, sure."

I imitated Kacha's earlier sigh. "Whatever. Who cares what you think?"

"Judging from your reaction to my suggestion that you were going to kill Bidoof, you, apparently," Kacha informed me offhandedly. If anyone tells you that I blushed when he said that, don't believe them and tell me who they are so I can beat the crap out of them. Because I most certianly did _not_. "Anyway, we really should talk to Croak," Kacha continued. "He's better at sneaking out than we are, anyway. He'll probably help us. So would the others, if we asked, since it's Rita."

I rolled my eyes. "No kidding. They'd probably mow us down trying to be the first to help. It's kind of funny how fond everyone is of Team Aster," I mused, "considering how Rita's barely spoken to any of us and Skitty's going to kill someone any day now with those superhero games of hers..."

"Skitty doesn't mean to bother anyone with those," Kacha pointed out. "She's just sort of ridiculous sometimes. Or most of the time. And it's not hard to tell that Rita's really nice, even if she doesn't talk to us very often. Besides, why are you asking about it? You like them too."

"Well, no one ever said I couldn't wonder," I asked defensively. I led the way back to the guild, going over ideas with Kacha. I knew who the town bullies were and Croak could find out where they lived from whatever or whoever his information source was. Whatever plan the three of us ended up with in the end, I would make sure that their due punishment would be delivered. After all, no one but _us _messed with a guild member. Whether it happened before or after the Pokémon officially became one of us, you can bet that someday, somehow, the culprits were going to get their due rewards.

* * *

**AN:/**

**Hello, hello, hello! Hope you enjoyed Special Episode 3. It was a nice break from the workings of Kai's mind. You have no idea how honestly _exhausting_ writing her can be. She's like the Energizer Bunny. She just goes on and on and on. Yes, Andrea and Kacha and the rest of the apprentices did teach a lesson to a bunch of unsuspecting bullies. I won't tell you exactly what they did, but rest assured that everyone involved thoroughly enjoyed it and Treasure Town enjoyed a lovely fireworks display. In other news, I settled some details in my mind about how this story will progress. Many of them involve Rita and her mysterious past that she doesn't like to talk about. Unrelated to Rita, something most likely interesting will begin next chapter. Let's call it the "The Guild Members Question Things Arc." Sounds fun, doesn't it?**

**Now for reviews!**

**adventurerXD: Ahh, legendaries. Fun, fun, fun. I hate them all. Especially Rayquaza. I was stuck on him for at least a year. I didn't beat him until about six months ago, but then I restarted. I realized I had no recollection of the plot and therefore understood close to nothing of what was going on. XD And then I got stuck in a different place.**

**TobyTse99: Thank you for the compliments! Nah, I'm not going to do that whole "wake up" thing all the time. Or, at least, I wasn't planning on doing that more than once...Whoops. My bad. And the thing about "kai" meaning "weirdo," that is priceless. XD It's so fitting! I appreciate her name more than ever now!**

**Mystery-Bright: I know! The hero recognizing footprints always confused me, too! It was a neat little mini-game, but making the amnesiac player character identify footprints, of all things, was not realistic at all. XD As you can see, Kai's having lots of fun with her superhero cape, though she's driving Rita up a wall.**

**TwewyReaperGirl: Glad you like the story! I just finished up Sky, and my partner is a Vulpix, too! Skitties are easy to sweep the game with, aren't they? All you do is spam Sing and then hit things until they die. XD**

**HikariNoTenshi-San: How mysterious that you feel that way. Certainly Kai isn't going to do anything ridiculous armed with that cape. Oh, I'm sure Chatot wonders if he's that bad all the time. I mean, how can't he, with Pokémon like Kai complaining about him when he's most likely within earshot? XD I wondered about Diglett's feet, too. I never actually used one until I started a Nuzlocke challenge on my Fire Red cartridge and got one, but I was really confused by the fact that it starts out knowing Scratch. I mean, does it have weird barbs on its nose/mouth/whatever the red circle is or something?**

**Sweet but Psycho: ...Oh, uh, I totally knew about the meaning of "fail review." Uh, I was, uh, making sure you did? Insert pirate lingo here? "Brock" was a two-for-one: Brock the gym leader, as you said, and a combination of the words "brown rock!" XD (And yes, the phrase "Brock the Rock" was canon, I remember being really weirded out by it as a kid.) Hm, with Dusknoir's thing, I've got my plan, but I'm not saying what it is. It's a secret. Definitely a sunny and tropical vacation, though it was hotter at home in the States than where I was by the Equator. XD Hahaha, I love food rewards, but I'm so bad with them. I always have food on me because of a condition I have, so usually when I get hungry and don't have a compelling reason to use my stash I think of a stupid reason for needing a reward so I don't feel so bad. XD Your high-five idea is officially considered. I'm glad you like Kai's superhero cape!**

**All right, so, next time, after a mini-time skip, we find out what Kai and Rita have been up to and about Treeshroud Forest, Spinda starts to set up his shop, and we trek off to Waterfall Cave with a better reason than the game's "something tragic has happened, but oh well, let's send some apprentices to do pointless work!" Hooray!**

**Random Fact #22:** Team Aster's going to get two extra team members, and one of them will show up in the near future. One of this Pokémon's colors does go with their pink-and-green theme.

*** Took those lines directly from the game. They aren't mine.**


	23. Chapter 5: First Official Exploration

The day after we did sentry duty, Chatot made an exciting announcement: from then on, he was going to let us pick our own missions! Rita and I were thrilled. We were finally more independent as a team! It was reason to celebrate, and to do so we went on a mini shopping spree at Kecleon Market. All we really got was a bunch of supplies, and not even that much, but it felt cool to blow all of our savings. We were a big, bad, independent exploration team now! But despite this newfound freedom to go wherever we wanted, we just picked jobs that were in the three dungeons we'd been in previously. Many of the dungeons other than those were way beyond our skill level (at least, according to the others at the guild), so it was better to stick to places we were somewhat familiar with. Bummer, I know.

Even though we were a little too tough for the two smallest of the three dungeons to be much of a challenge anymore, Beach Cave and Drenched Bluff were good for gaining experience and getting items. We were now a lot stronger than we were before. Rita and I had learned a new move each—Copycat for me, Synthesis for Rita—and while I was still a bit of a clumsy battler, I was definitely not relying on distractions and sheer force and basically flailing around so much anymore. Yes, that was the way I preferred doing things (minus the flailing), but I had made the astonishing discoveries of timing and planning, and it was working out so far. When it didn't, I'd just knock things out with Sing and run for the hills. Hey, whatever works, right?

It was about nine days after our sentry duty before anything particularly interesting happened. And if you're thinking it's something good and happy, you ought to guess again.

It happened after our morning cheers, the point at which Chatot would normally dismiss us. Instead, Chatot cleared his throat. The attention-capturing mechanism was completely unnecessary for once; we were already waiting for him to say something. It had been clear from the first word out of Chatot's beak that day that something was going on. Even the guildmaster seemed out of sorts, and it was putting us all on edge.

Looking around at our worried faces, Chatot started talking in a deliberately calm voice. "Everyone, listen up. I have an important announcement to make." He paused. "As some of you well know, far to the northeast, then farther into its outermost reaches, there lies a place called Treeshroud Forest. The guildmaster and I received word of a problem there several days ago. We sent out an experienced exploration team to investigate, and upon their return last night, they confirmed that in Treeshroud Forest..."

He paused again, but this time it was more of a hesitation.

"In Treeshroud Forest, time has apparently stopped..."

The effect of this statement was instantaneous. Sunflora shrieked and began shooting off rapid-fire questions. Many of them were directed towards Chimecho; I'd gathered that the two of them were good friends. Chimecho was trying to soothe Sunflora and deal with her own fear at the same time. Poor Bidoof was stuck between the two and was completely freaked. Pikachu looked very upset, which was majorly alarming since Pikachu was like sunshine and happiness incarnate. Behind me, Rita was shaking violently and I could hear her trying not to cry. Diglett, being the youngest out of all of us, was working himself into a similar hysteria. The fact that his father, Dugtrio, was just as freaked as us probably wasn't helping matters for him. Corphish just looked stunned, and he even wasn't yelling "hey" over and over. Croagunk and Charmander took the news the best out of all of us, as they just put on their "serious faces" and tried to help Chatot and Wigglytuff calm everyone else down. I was part of that "everyone else." I didn't even know this place, and even still, I was close to panic. No matter what you know or don't know, or are and aren't, time stopping _anywhere_ is a _very_ bad sign.

After a bit, the news had sunk in enough that most of the panic had died down. Chatot was waiting patiently for the questions sure to come. Corphish was the one who spoke up first. "You're saying time stopped?" he asked. "Hey, hey, hey!"

"Yes, that's correct," Chatot confirmed, looking very serious. "Time has come to a standstill in Treeshroud Forest."

"But...what does that _mean_?" Diglett asked in a shaky voice.

Chatot sighed heavily. "The wind has stopped, the clouds are motionless, and the area is locked in perpetual nightfall. A mystery dungeon has also formed in the heart of the forest, and it seems that the Pokémon who were in that particular spot when time stopped were captured in the dungeon's spell." Chatot hesitated again. "I will be completely honest with you. Other than the location of the dungeon, most, if not all, of the Pokémon who live in the affected areas have frozen as well."

The new details got us a worked up again. Even I was really upset by that, and I had no particular connection to the Pokémon of this land. Above all the noise, Chatot shouted, "You haven't let me finish! There is no reason to believe that they are dead. We believe that there may be a way to revive them. We just haven't discovered it yet."

"But how could something this awful happen?" Sunflora called out. "It's unthinkable!"

"Yes, and the reason why this has happened is just as unthinkable." Chatot waited a moment to make sure he had our attention before saying, "Time in Treeshroud Forest stopped because its Time Gear was stolen."

Even the news that Pokémon had been frozen in time was nothing compared to the reaction this piece of information received. Almost everyone started talking all at once, asking questions or just panicking. Chatot did his best to answer the questions that were being thrown at him from every direction while Wigglytuff was going from Pokémon to Pokémon checking on everyone. Diglett and Rita were so distraught by the news about the Time Gear that they finally just burst into tears.

I shoved down my own panic this time. There were more important issues at hand, namely the fact that everyone around me was _extremely_ upset. I turned around to look at Rita. "Are you okay, Rita?" I asked worriedly. She ducked so that I couldn't see her face. "Rita?" She didn't answer me at all. I was at a complete loss as to what I should do for her. "Can I do something?" I asked. After a moment, she shook her head no, but she gestured towards the others with her leaf. "...You just want me to leave you alone, right?" Rita nodded, still not looking up. "Okay...," I replied uneasily. I didn't say anything else, but I didn't leave her alone, either.

Once everyone was relatively calm again—or at least not crying or freaking out quite so much—Chatot began speaking again. "Officer Magnezone has already started an investigation. It's hard to believe that anyone would dare steal a Time Gear, but if one Time Gear was stolen, the others might also be in danger. Officer Magnezone asked to be notified _immediately_ if we notice any suspicious characters. Please keep that in mind. Let Guildmaster Wigglytuff or myself know if you notice anything. That is all," Chatot concluded, forcing cheer into his voice. "All right, everyone! Here's to another busy day of work!" The cheer that followed this was severely lacking in energy. Some of us didn't speak at all. On a normal day, Chatot would have yelled at us, but today he just let it go.

The guild slowly dispersed. The apprentices scattered in all directions and Wigglytuff retreated into his chambers, looking unusually serious. I turned to look at Rita. "You okay?" I asked her.

"...Yeah," was all she said. She wasn't crying anymore, but she still didn't meet my gaze. What little I could see of her face told me she was still very upset. I didn't push it. Avoiding eye contact was a big clue that I shouldn't press the issue.

"I'm going to go pick out a job," I decided. "If you want to wait here, you can." I turned back around, intending to head off to the bulletin boards.

Aside from us, Chatot was the only one who remained behind. For a split second when I turned around I could see that he was just as troubled by the news as the rest of us were. I guess he was hiding it. "Oh, you there," he said though a heavy sigh when he noticed us still lingering. "You two, come here." Rita and I obliged. "You've become quite good at your work," he told us once we were standing in front of him.

I was a little confused by the sudden compliment. "Um, thanks. What's going on?"

"It's been decided that, since you've been doing so well, you both will finally be assigned a mission worthy of a proper exploration team."

This startled Rita out of her brooding. "...Rrrreally?"

"Seriously?" I asked with a small smile. Even in the face of tragedy, news like this was hard to take without getting even a _little_ excited.

Our enthusiasm seemed to do Chatot some good as well, because he perked up some. "Let me see your wonder map." Rita pulled it out of our bag and handed it over. Chatot unrolled it and laid it out on the floor. "Treasure Town is here," Chatot explained, pointing to it, "and over here is where we'd like you to investigate." Rita and I watched him trace a line from Treasure Town to a mountain with a waterfall that wasn't too far from the town. "See? There's a waterfall flowing here, By all appearances, it's just an ordinary waterfall, but we've received a tip that the waterfall may conceal a secret. That's where you come in. We want you two to investigate the waterfall and determine what's there."

"Leave it to us!" I told him. "We'll handle it!"

Chatot rolled up the map again and gave it back to Rita. Then he fixed us with a serious look that sobered us quite a bit. "I hope you understand how important it is that you do your job well. This area could be hiding our culprit or even a Time Gear. The place you're going to is a complete dead zone as far as our intelligence goes."

As unusual as it was, I took a momnet to think about what that meant. Basically, Chatot was saying that Team Aster was going in blind. If something went wrong somehow, there would be no one waiting in the wings to save us. Our safety wasn't assured, and if we didn't make sure that things in that area were safe, others could be in danger, too.

When Chatot had said we were going to be assigned a mission "worthy of a proper exploration team," was he saying he thought we were ready to handle so much pressure and responsibility? Quite honestly, I wasn't sure. We'd done well so far, but we were still younger than the average exploration team members. But if Chatot thought we could do it...well, I guess we'd just have to give it our very best.

My expression must have given away that I realized the full extent of what Chatot was asking. He nodded. "I'll leave you to it," he decided. Then the two of us noticed Rita shaking violently.

"Rita?" I prompted. Had she caught on to the seriousness of the situation like I had, or was she just nervous?

Chatot seemed to be concerned, too. "Are you all right, Chikorita?"

Rita avoided our gazes. "I—I'mmm...f-f-fine," she insisted almost unintelligibly. Oh, she'd definitely caught on if she was trying to cover up how freaked she was.

Chatot seemed to have come to the same conclusion I had, but instead of giving us a "rousing" speech about bravery (which he very often did whenever Rita got nervous about something or another), he just asked us to do our best. Without another word, Chatot hopped off to go speak with the Guildmaster.

I forced myself to stop thinking about the what-ifs. _Time and place, Kai, time and place._ "All right, Rita...are we good to start getting ready? I think we both realize we're going to need to be extra-prepared for this trip."

Rita was still shaking, but it was much less that just a moment ago. Her stiff posture gave away that she was trying to suppress it. "I...y-yeah," was all she said. "W-...we...nnnneed to...b-bring...thhhhose rrrreviver seeds wi-...with...with usss," she pointed out. I had a feeling that running through our items was her attempt to distract herself. "B-...berries, t-t-too..."

"Maybe we should bring those pecha scarves we got from that Volbeat instead of pecha berries," I suggested. "It frees up some room. And we can leave out the rawst berries, 'cause I don't think we're gonna run into fire Pokémon around a waterfall. We should bring whatever other kinds of berries we've got, though."

Rita nodded. "Llllots...of apples?"

"No, we could use that space for something else," I said, shaking my head. "We can take as many as we usually do. We'll just ration them, okay?"

In this way, we kept our minds off the serious situation and also figured out what items we wanted to take and which to leave behind. The two of us decided to head for Treasure Town to put all of our Poké in Duskull Bank and switch around some items with Kangaskhan.

As we climbed to the upper floor of the guild, a voice called up us. "Oh! Chikorita and Skitty!"

Still clinging to the ladder, I glanced around in search of the speaker. That's when I noticed Chimecho sitting behind a little desk in the corner of the room. "Oh! Hi, Chimecho," I called, dropping onto the ground. I gestured for Rita to follow me as I led the way over. "What's going on?"

"I just started an Assembly here," Chimecho explained with a big smile. "Today, in fact!"

"That's great!" I commended her, since that seemed to be the correct reaction. Whatever an Assembly was, Chimecho certainly seemed to enjoy running it.

She must have realized I was clueless, because she asked with a giggle, "Do you need me to explain what that is?"

"Y-yes...p-p-please," Rita replied. Looks like I wasn't the only one confused.

"Well, it's for officially assembling your team," Chimecho told us, "if you ever add new members. Have you ever considered it?"

"I didn't know we could even _do_ that...," I mused.

"I-I did...," Rita admitted. "I thhhought...it...mmmmight be...c-cool...sssssssomed-d-day."

Chimecho seemed rather excited by Rita's comment. "That's great! Well, then, you need to start recruiting new members!"

"A-alrrrrready?" Rita stammered, taken aback. "I...u-um...issssn't it...t-t-t-too sssssoon...?"

"It's _never_ too early to start looking for members!" Chimecho enthused, bobbing up and down in the air.

_Now I see why she got this job_, I sighed internally. "Okay, so how do we do that?"

"I'll just ring the Friendship Bell for you!"

"The Friendship Bell? What?" I asked, shooting her a confused look.

Chimecho seemed to ignore me. "Here goes!" She rose up into the air. Once she was clear of any objects that could impede her, she rocked her body back and forth. Her movement caused her to emit a delicate chiming noise. Then she returned to her desk. "Congratulations! Now Team Aster has the power to recruit new team members! So, um, if anyone says they want to join your team or help you out with missions, just come and talk to me, okay?"

I frowned. "Wait. Hypothetically, couldn't we have just walked up to someone and asked that Pokémon to join from the start? I mean, Rita did that with me, so do we really need the bell?"

Chimecho giggled sheepishly. "Well...no, the bell doesn't really do anything. You know how Guildmaster Wigglytuff does his 'registering' thing?"

I groaned at the mere memory of it. "How could I forget? That was traumatizing."

"Oh...really? I thought it was neat. I made up my Friendship Bell because I wanted to do something like that...," Chimecho explained, blushing.

I sighed, trying not to let her see it. Poor Chimecho, blindly following the guildmaster's lead. "I see. Well, we'll talk to you if we find anyone to add to our team."

"G-...good llllluck," Rita added, smiling.

Chimecho perked up again. "Thank you! Good luck recruiting!"

I led the way back over to the ladder. "Okey-dokey, well, do we actually want new members right now?" I asked Rita in a low voice so Chimecho couldn't hear us.

Rita whispered, "_Um...I don't...not yet, at least. If it's okay_," she added, supposedly to head off whatever protests she thought were coming.

"It's fine," I answered, not even going to bother with calling her out on expecting to get shot down.

Our next distraction came when we were barely down the hillside leading from the guild. I noticed something different about the crossroads. "Rita, am I delusional, or is there a hole in front of us and to our right that wasn't there yesterday?" I pointed to said hole across the path.

Rita looked confused. "Nnnno...Th-that wa-...wasn't...thhhere b-before."

The two of us hurried over to it. A closer look at the hole revealed that the edge was lined with decorative stones, and there were stairs made of the same kind of stone leading down the hole. Dim but welcoming light spilled from deep within. "Looks like someone lives here," I observed. "Diglett and Dugtrio, maybe?" I never saw them sleeping in the guild, so I had just assumed they slpet underground somewhere. "Well, wait; they wouldn't need stairs, would they?"

Rita shrugged. As she did so, something caught her eye. "Oh! A sssign." It was right next to her, so I don't know how neither of us had noticed it. The both of us looked at it together. In the time after our sentry duty up until now, Rita had taught me how to write a few common words and the very little punctuation footprint runes used. On this sign, I could make out a possessive noun, the word "shop," some form of "open," and "big."

"So...what, a big shop's opening?" I asked Rita.

" 'Sssssspinda's C-café,' " Rita read aloud as her answer. " 'A ssssshhhop of...hhhhopes...and...d-d-dreamsss...op-p-pening...sssssoon. W-...wi-...winnn...b-b-big.' "

Huh. So I was actually pretty close. I couldn't help but be proud of that. "So it _is_ a new shop opening up here! I was really close, wasn't I?"

Rita nodded. "I w-...I won-...I wonder...w-what i-...it'll be."

I shrugged. "Whatever 'a shop of hopes and dreams' means. I have no idea. I guess we'll have to come back when it's open to find out," I decided. "Let's go take care of getting ready for now."

Our stops were relatively quick. Duskull was more than happy to look after our money (forever, if we wished) and Kangaskhan took the items we didn't need and gave us back some others we'd left with her before. All that fun stuff. After that, we were on our way to the waterfall, but I'm sure you don't want to hear about our walk, so let's just skip to the exciting part when we got there.

"Whoa!" I gasped as we approached the waterfall. It was massive. We were standing on a ledge that led right up to the waterfall itself. From this close, I couldn't even see the top, and there was quite a lot of spray landing on us. Its roar made it hard to be understood, with or without screaming. "It's huge!" Rita nodded vigorously, her mouth slightly open as she looked over the seriously impressive wall of water. "So this is it, huh? The waterfall holding a secret we're supposed to investigate and stuff?" I yelled to her. Of course, now that I brought our mission into it, the sight was less beautiful and more intimidating. We wouldn't be able to hear anyone coming up behind us...

Rita nodded nervously. Her mouth moved, but even though I was standing next to her, I couldn't hear what she said over all the noise. She gestured to the waterfall, making some kind of point. Being me, I interpreted that as "go investigate the waterfall." I crept up to it, glancing around to make sure I wasn't being followed by anyone (other than Rita, who was coming with me and looking really confused). To fit the moment, I played ninja music in my head. Then, being the smart individual I am, I tried to touch the falling water. Bad move. The force of it made me lose my balance and I fell over, landing close to the edge. I probably would have fallen if Rita hadn't been close enough to pull me back.

"Oh my gosh," I gasped once I was safe. I looked over at the edge I'd almost tumbled over. A fall from there would have killed me. "Th-thanks, Rita," I stammered, wide-eyed.

Instead of blushing or getting embarrassed like I'd expected, Rita leaned over and shouted into my ear, "Y-you are...rrrrreally d-d-_dumb_ ssssometimes!" Silently fuming, Rita turned away.

"S-sorry, Rita," I apologized, completely stunned. She had a point. I suppose poking forceful water wasn't exactly my most brilliant idea ever. I was working out what to say when my vision started flickering in and out. The noise of the waterfall faded away and my stomach started feeling weird. "Not again!" I complained, recognizing the signs of one of my vision-things despite having experienced them only twice before. Like before, I couldn't hear my own voice. Everything went dark.

_A fuzzy image grew behind my eyes, with the same wrong-end-of-a-telescope effect the last one had had. I could only just make out the moving blue area to be the waterfall, and I decided the tan part must have been the cliff that Rita and I were standing on in real life. A Pokémon was there. Since everything was so fuzzy, I couldn't tell exactly what kind of Pokémon it was, but it was pink with two long things sticking out of the top. They were probably ears. For some reason, something about that Pokémon bugged me, but I didn't dwell on it too much because it started moving. The Pokémon was backing up. Then it ran at the waterfall and jumped right through it. Somehow, it tumbled right through to the other side, landing in some kind of dark room. It walked forwards and into a dark area._

I—hm, I guess we'll call it waking up—I woke up to find Rita staring at me. It was weird how she had somehow gotten that uncanny ability to realize when I was getting a vision. I stumbled to my feet and answered her question without her having to voice it. "Don't worry. I'm okay. I just had another vision, or whatever they are." _And there was something extremely familiar about that Pokémon_, I added mentally.

Rita looked surprised. She said something, but I couldn't hear it over the waterfall. I gestured for the two of us to move farther away. "I saw this Pokémon jump right into the waterfall," I explained once we were far enough away that we could hear each other better, even though we still had to yell. "Somehow it jumped through it into...I guess it's a cave, on the other side. I don't know how it works, but it just jumped right on through without getting hurt. I'm guessing the cave is the secret Chatot mentioned."

Rita looked over at the waterfall skeptically. "B-but...thhhat s-...ssssounds d-d-dangerous."

I assumed a regal air as a declared, "Danger? Hah! I walk on the wild side. I laugh in the face of danger.*" Then I laughed maniacally.

Rita didn't even acknowledge my weirdness, she was so focused on her terror. "Immmagine if...thhhere's a ssssssolid wa-...wall...b-b-back there. If we t-t-tried to...j-jump thhhrough...and thhhere wassss-...wasn't a c-c-cave...b-back there..." She trailed off, letting the implications of that hang in the air.

"It sounds dangerous, I know, but...when I saw Azurill getting yelled at by Drowzee in Mt. Bristle, I turned out to be right," I told her. "I don't understand why I can see these things, but I think we need to try this. It's the only lead we've got, and if we don't follow it, we're not really doing our job, are we?"

Rita watched the waterfall intently. Then she looked at me. To my surprise, she nodded. "O-...okay. I...I'm p-p-putting...mmmy f-f-faith in you...Kai."

I smiled. "Then I'll trust you to jump with me!"

The two of us backed up further, up to the point at which the ledge started sloping down to join a path. We could have gone past that point, but running uphill was just going to slow us down. "Our runway is pretty short...If we're going to make it, we have to put everything we've got into running," I announced. "No holding back. That Pokémon got through without getting hurt or dragged down, so there might be something more going on with that waterfall, but I know for sure that if we don't get enough momentum, we won't make it and we'll just fall. I don't think we'd survive that."

Rita nodded. Her legs started shaking, and she started whispering to herself. "You can do it, Rita!" I cheered to encourage her. I didn't blame her for being so worried about jumping. If something went wrong, we _were_ going to die. I was just better than Rita at ignoring the reality of it. I wasn't going to acknowledge that I was nervous because that would just make it worse.

She glanced up. "Okay," she agreed. "...C-count down?"

"Yeah. We'll count down from three," I told her. "When we get right at the edge of the cliff—like, _right_ there—we jump, okay?" Rita nodded, looking nervous. "Good thing we practiced our running on the way to Drenched Bluff, right?" I commented, referring to our race.

"R-...rrright." Rita smiled, for real this time. I grinned back.

"All right. Here we go." We assumed positions for a powerful push-off. "Three...two...one...go!"

The two of us darted forwards, putting every bit of our energy into picking up speed. When we got to the edge, we pushed off with all of our might. We reached the waterfall. As soon as we were close enough—before we could even touch it—a strange force propelled us straight through the wall of water at a high speed. It released us on the other side. The sudden loss of momentum made us fall flat on our faces.

I picked myself up off the ground, cursing to myself. Falling face-first on rock was not a pleasant experience. "Okay, what on earth was _that_?" I demanded of no one in particular. We'd been thrown through a waterfall and hadn't even gotten wet...

Rita, who was also getting up, replied, "I...I thhhhink...i-it w-...w-...was a...psssychic b-barrier...thing." She shrugged. "B-but you we-...were...rrrright ab-bout...the c-c-cave. We...rrreally mmmmade it...," she added, sounding a little awed.

I pointed out, "I _told_ you that you could do it! You really need to have more confidence in yourself."

"Y-...you...were rrright...thanks," Rita said, half-smiling. I don't know if I've said so before, but Rita's one of those people—Pokémon—uh, _beings_ that really doesn't smile all too often, so every time she does it's really significant. She turned to look around the cave. "Thhhere's annnother c-c-cave...o-over thhhere."

I followed her line of sight and saw the opening in the back wall. I frowned; as if this first mysterious cave/potential hideout wasn't enough, there was a whole other area where someone should be lurking. "I guess we'd better check it out." Quietly nodding in agreement, Rita followed me to the edge of the cave. I noticed something off about the opening—the edges seemed blurred somehow. "Mystery dungeon, do you think?" I asked her, squinting at the dark hole to see if it made any difference. Quite honestly, since every single place we'd gone so far was a mystery dungeon, it would have shocked me if this _wasn't_ one rather than the other way around.

"P-p-prrrobably," Rita stammered, peering closely along with me.

"This could be either very good or very bad," I mused. "A mystery dungeon would definitely be a good place to hide someone...or something..."

To my surprise, Rita shook her head. "A...P-p-pokémon wou-...would...would be...c-c-corrupted if he...sssssstayed there t-t-t-too long...and i-items...g-g-get lllost i-...if you...llleave them there."

"These dungeons are so weird," I sighed as I led the way inside. "Well, guess we should check it out anyway. Just to be sure."

* * *

*** This line is from _The Lion King_, in honor of the 3D version out in theaters as of yesterday (which I haven't seen yet, and that makes me angry). I don't own it, though I wish I did. _The Lion King_ is awesome.**

* * *

**AN:/**

**Yo. Lame must-establish-events-of-game chapter is lame, so sorry about that. Although my initial rendering of the scene in which Kai says "I'll trust you to jump with me!" was funny. The way I was writing it out made it sound a bit like they were making a suicide pact... XD That's not a funny topic, but still...it's just...it's Kai and Rita. Making a suicide pact. XD**

**Also, sorry about the long wait, everyone. You would not believe the month I've had. In addition to starting classes, my family got three adorable kittens, and we found out a couple weeks ago that one has a disease called FIP, which is barely understood, and there is no known/proven way to treat it. We were told that he's going to need a _lot_ of luck to make it. Then a second kitten got sick, and we have no idea if it's the same thing. Then one of my older cats hurt her leg. Then another one of the older ones lost his voice last night. So basically my house is full of panic and chaos and I haven't often been in the mood to write. Hope you understand why chapters are probably going to be coming on the slower side until things settle down.**

**Review time! Wow, so many...thank you all very much!**

Mystery-Bright**: I enjoyed coming up with those pranks. =] Glad you enjoyed reading about them!**

Cardcaptornicole**: Glad you liked the last chapter, and Kai's personality. She's quite a character, isn't she?**

TobyTse99**: No, I didn't know who Kyouko Kasodani is, but I looked her up. Pink and green/teal for the win! Haha. Yeah, that guild certainly is a dangerous place. You know, it's shocking that the guild has such a good reputation in this fanfiction-universe, considering the strange things its apprentices do. Pardon my teaser-not-random-fact. I didn't think about it that way until you pointed it out. Have an extra actually-random fact today! I'm sure that person whose story you accidentally posted your review to didn't mind. I would have thought it was funny if someone posted a review to this story talking about another! XD**

TwewyReaperGirl**: Yeah, that's what I did, too! We're Skitty-sweeper buddies! XD**

Sweet but Psycho**: They do sound like idiotic ninth grade boys, don't they? XD Yeah, thanks for catching the name thing. Major "duh" moment there. I fixed that (and the typos, I think) as soon as I read your review. I left the outcome of the guild's vengeance to the imaginations of the readers. I was going to write that out, but it wound up sounding a bit too much like gang violence... XD**

adventurerXD**: Glad to know that Kai's idiocy is still well received! I'm sure she'd thank you for appreciating her sense of humor.**

Zelphiteen**: Thanks for the compliment! Yep…typos…they're like a disease….Glad you're enjoying the story so far!**

Team Dasher**: Thanks for all the tips! I knew Kai wasn't weak to rock-types, but her normal-type attacks won't have much effect on them, so it would still be difficult for her to fight them. But thank you anyway. I'm flattered that you'd make a special episode based on my team and this fanfiction, but I'm not sure where I'd fit it in to the story. I enjoyed reading it, though!**

**Well, next chapter will be the end of the in-game chapter five, and I'm actually _not_ dragging you through each and every event that happens to our dear Team Aster in that cave! This is cause for celebration, people. Look forward to it!**

**Since I owe you for the teaser not-actually-a-random-fact random fact last chapter, you get more than one this chapter, but they'll all be lumped together as** **Random Fact #23:** When the new Harry Potter site (Pottermore) opens up to the public, I'm going to make Kai and Rita accounts and get them sorted. Just because I can. Wonder what they'd be. Theories for you Potterheads out there? And since not everyone is Harry Potter-obsessed like me, here's two more. Kai likes to shout random words in awkward silences (ex. potato, purple, a certain long word from Mary Poppins that FF.N will not let me type out for some reason), and Rita likes just about anything that's shiny because she thinks it's pretty.


	24. Chapter 5, Part 2: Lots of Excitement

This dungeon was significantly different from the cave we had entered it through. The inside was brightly lit from small, strategically-placed glowing crystals, revealing the dungeon to be made of reddish-tan rock. Every so often, a tiny but brilliantly colored stone would be jutting out of the wall, ceiling, or floor. There were stalagmites on the floor, too, and stalactites on the ceiling. Wherever there was a bunch of stalactites together, there was a massive puddle underneath. Some of these puddles were shallow enough that we could just wade through them, but others were more like small ponds. Some of the stalagmites and stalactites joined together to make big columns. All in all, it was a complicated dungeon to get around in.

"It feels like we're getting rained on!" I complained as we waded across one of the deeper but still traversable puddles. As if we weren't wet enough from wading, the stalactites were constantly dripping water on us. No wonder there were all these stupid puddles! "My cape is completely soaked...," I whined, tugging at it. The thing was so wet that the tugging didn't move it an inch; it just clung stubbornly to my back and sides.

"Y-yesss...b-but...lllook at thhhese!" Rita, evidently not sharing in my misery, gushed from somewhere behind me. I looked over to see that she had waded over to one of the walls. Her face was as close as possible to one of the bigger colored stones. "I thhhink a-...allll these rrrocks are...g-g-gemssstones," she told me excitedly, looking at it from different angles.

"Gemstones, huh? Maybe this place used to be a mine, then," I suggested. "Those light-up crystal things look like they were put where they are on purpose, and if you're digging up gemstones, setting lights up would make sense."

"Mmmmaybe..." Rita tugged on the gemstone she was looking at, and when it refused to budge, let out a huge sigh, looking very disappointed. "I w-...wish I c-c-could...t-t-t-t-take one b-back..."

"Yes, but unfortunately, neither of us know Rock Smash, so unless we find one conveniently lying on the ground, we're out of luck," I explained and started walking again. Hey, if she didn't show any sympathy for my cape, I had no obligation to show sympathy for her lack of new pretty rocks. Besides, she already had her Relic Fragment.

There were eight floors in the actual dungeon, which we reached through actual staircases going down. Looks like my theory that this was once a mine was at least plausible. We scoured every corner for thieves and assassins—well, I did, at least. Rita helped out some, but she really is a bit of a scaredy-cat. Once her infatuation with the gems wore off, she started getting spooked by every little sound. I couldn't really blame her (even though it was sort of annoying), since this mission was making _me_ nervous. Didn't matter much, anyway, as there was no sign of an intruder (other than us) or a Time Gear. There weren't even any items to indicate anyone had ever been here before. The only signs of life were the wild Pokémon. They were mostly water-types—Psyduck, Poliwag, Pokémon like that—but there were a few oddities. For one, the Tangela. They're grass-types. Why are grass-types in a cave with no natural light? Then there were the Grimer. Fighting with a bunch of Grimer is a messy affair, you know. Rita and I were covered in sludge by the time we'd sent them on their way. It did not help that my stupid "cute charm" thing made one of them fall in love with me and try to hug me. Thank goodness we were in a dungeon with lots of clean water, although we may have created new Grimer from all the blobs of goo we left behind...

Hold on, this just occurred to me. Mister Grimer fell in love with me. Then he draped himself all over me and left distinct little blobs of goo on me, which I washed off into a pond and should theoretically become new Grimer...Would that make me and Mister Grimer _parents_? Ew! That's so _weird_!

On the eighth floor, there was no staircase, but we did find another hole in the wall that presumably led to another cave. "You think this is the exit?" I asked Rita, looking closely at the hole.

"I...I g-g-guess," she mumbled. It seemed she was still freaking out about the possibility of running into someone or something dangerous. I accidentally-on-purpose kicked a pebble and she about launched herself into orbit, looking around wildly. "Wh-wha-wha-what w-w-was thhhat?" she asked frantically.

_Rita really needs to stop working herself up all the time_, I thought. "That was a rock I kicked by accident. My bad."

"O-oh..." Rita relaxed marginally and shot me a sheepish look.

I let out a long-suffering sigh. "Well, let's go investigate, then. We've checked out this floor already, so there's nothing but to go for it, yeah?" As usual, I led the way into the new area. That strange walking-through-a-wall-of-water feeling alerted us to the fact that we were leaving the dungeon, and we emerged into a cave a little different than the one we'd started in. There were two big ponds, one on either side of us. It was light enough inside to see, but much less so than the dungeon with its glowing crystals, making it hard for those of us without decent night vision to see anything right away. However, since I had good night-vision, within a few seconds I could see that the whole cavern was littered with brilliantly colored gems. Unlike the ones in the mystery dungeon, these ones were cut and polished, and the smallest of them were at least the size of a child's fist. They looked huge to a little Pokémon like me. I gaped at them speechlessly.

"...W-...w-where a-arre...we?" Rita turned her head from side to side, her eyes unfocused. "Those of us without decent night vision" meant Rita, by the way. When entering dark areas, she's pretty much blind for a good three minutes.

"Another cave," I explained. "A lot like the first one, but...oh, man, Rita, you're going to love this."

"Wh-why?" I didn't answer her and instead guided her over to one of the bigger gems, which seemed to be a deep blue color (it was a little hard to tell in the dim light). Once her vision began to adjust and she could tell that there was something there, she squinted at it. "I-is thhhat a gem?" she asked excitedly. She bent over it, examining it from different angles with a look of excitement on her face. "I-it's sssso...p-p-pretty," she sighed happily. "I...I thhhhink...it'ssss ssssapphire."

Rita began making her way to each of the gems. I don't know why she liked them so much, but I guess it was nice that she was so happy. After she had inspected most of those around her, she noticed one in the very back of the cavern. "W-...wow! Llllook at that...K-Kai!" She hurried over to it, with me trailing behind her. "I-...it's g-gigantic..."

"I see that," I told her, a bit stunned. The gem we were looking at was purple (I think) and about as tall as I was. It was genuinely impressive.

"I...I've...nnnnever ss-sssseen one...thhhis h-huge!" Rita gushed. With a thoughtful expression on her face, she moved to the other side of the gem, inspecting it from different angles. Was she trying to move it?

I crouched down and tried to get a glimpse at the wall behind it. I managed to get just the right angle for me to notice that the gem was somewhat embedded in the stone. "Hey, Rita, if you're trying to figure out how to move it, it looks like this thing is stuck in the wall."

"...Rrrrreally?" From the side, Rita gave it an experimental push. The gem didn't even shift. Then she walked around to the front and pulled. It didn't give at all. Steeling herself, Rita gave it another go, but all of a sudden she let out a little gasp and pulled away. Her expression looked very troubled—not scared-troubled, but kind-of-disturbed-troubled.

"Rita? Did something happen?" I asked anxiously.

After a small hesitation, Rita shook her head. Towards the end it looked like she was trying to shake off something. "It...it's nnnothing. Thhhat just...k-kinda hurt. It's...rrrrreally sssstuck t-t-tight..."

"That sucks," I sighed. I actually did sympathize with her. That was a pretty awesome gem. But somehow, I didn't think that gasp was just a desperate intake of breath...

Rita glanced up at me thoughtfully. "...C-can you...g-give it a...t-t-try?"

"Huh? Well, yeah, I guess." Rita moved aside, and I took her place in front of the gem. I tried tugging with my front paws, but I couldn't hold on properly, so for my last attempt I slipped my tail in a small space behind it and put in all my strength to pull it out that way. Nothing, and now I was completely worn out. While Rita took over, I panted, "Jeez...who in...their right m-...mind...sticks a gem...into a wall?"

While I was recovering, my vision flickered. Before I could even say anything, my vision went dark and a picture blossomed in front of me.

_Like the last vision I'd had, it was a little hard to make out what was going on. It clearly took place in the same cave Rita and I were in—I could tell because of the colored blobs scattered around that represented the gems—and the same figure I'd seen last time was approaching the big gem Rita and I were trying to get out. Just like us, this Pokémon was pulling on it and pushing it from the sides. Apparently worn out, it leaned against the gem. The gem tilted backwards, the Pokémon stumbled, and a muffled roaring filled the cave. The ponds looked like they were shrinking. The Pokémon looked to its right and apparently saw something it didn't like. It tried to run back to the front of the cave, but a massive wave of water spewed out from the right. It washed the Pokémon to the left side of the cave, where it vanished from sight. Then, everything faded._

I shook my head, scrunching my eyes shut. "Ugh. I'm really starting to hate it when that happens," I whispered to myself. That weird feeling like I was missing something important returned. _That Pokémon...it feels like I should know who it is, like it's on the tip of my tongue, but...I just can't get it out!_

I looked up to see Rita curiously watching me from where she stood . "W-what hhhappened?" she asked.

"Got another vision," I explained. Thoughts of the Pokémon in it would have to wait. "It was of that same Pokémon from the last one. It was trying to get this gem unstuck, just like us, but then it leaned against it and—"

_Click!_ A tiny snap echoed through the cavern. Rita had bumped into the gem, tilting it backwards. A dull roar rumbled in the background and the water in the ponds began to recede. "I-I-I'm ssssorry!" Rita gasped, backing away from the gem.

"Just worry about getting out of the way!" I exclaimed, trying to drag her towards the front of the cave. The roar was growing louder by the second. "The water—"

I didn't have time to explain what I meant. From the right side of the cave, a large hole in the side that I hadn't noticed before began gushing water at a high pressure. Rita and I yelped as the wall of water slammed into us and quickly shoved us to the other side of the cave. I felt my cape ripped off of me by the force of it, but there wasn't anything I could do. The ground suddenly sloped downwards into a tunnel. It was too dark to see anything. There was a steep drop, and I landed in more water. Wherever we were, it was quickly filling up with water and I still couldn't see. I swam around cautiously, trying to find Rita. By the time I thought to call out, there was barely enough space left to keep my nose and mouth out of the water and I didn't want to waste the breath. The water suddenly churned, and the water in the room shot upwards into what I assumed was some kind of shaft, taking me with it. The torrent smashed my head into a wall and everything went dark.

The next thing I knew, someone was speaking in a hushed voice. A couple of someones, in fact.

"D-do you thhhink...shhe'll b-be okay?"

"Well, it looks like she hit her head pretty hard, but then again, you were just fine once you woke up! I'm sure she'll be up in a moment or two."

"What does this mean, though? Do you think the geyser's active again?"

I struggled to open my eyes.

"Hold on! Look at that. Looks like she's waking up."

I forced my eyes open. When my vision focused, I realized I was outside again, and floating in the shallows of what looked like a small but very warm pond surrounded by rocks.

"Hi, there!" The source of the greeting was a Teddiursa, who was standing on the other side of the pool. Next to him stood Rita, looking a little worse for wear. A Mankey, Primeape, Ursaring, and Vigoroth were crowded around me. "Please call me Teddiursa. Are you okay?"

"I think so..." I wriggled around, trying to get to my feet. It was only when I was set down even closer to shore that I realized that the Ursaring had been supporting me so I wouldn't sink.

"I'm Ursaring. How many claws am I holding up?" he asked. He raised one of his hands and held up two claws.

"Um, two?" I suggested as I slowly got to my feet.

"What's your name?"

"It's Kai. Why are you asking me questions?"

"And what season is it right now?"

I looked at Ursaring strangely. "Isn't it summer? Almost fall? Seriously, I don't understand why you're asking these random questions." I glanced around. "At least Rita's okay. But where's my cape? It should have come out with Rita and me!"

Ursaring sighed in relief. "Oh, good. Chikorita said you'd mention a cape if you were really all right. That's a relief."

I glanced at Rita, then leveled Ursaring with a skeptical look. "...I'm not really sure whether or not that's a veiled insult to my love of that cape, but if it makes you stop asking obvious things, then sure."

"The questions were important, though!" Teddiursa protested. "You just fell from out of nowhere when the geyser erupted. We thought you hit your head or something. You'd been out for a couple of minutes. We were worried you might have had a concussion, or oxygen deprivation, or something."

"We didn't want to move you just in case, and we were asking you questions to check that you weren't having memory problems," Ursaring continued. "Do you feel all right?"

"My head is kind of sore in one spot, but I'm okay, I think." I looked over at Rita, who was making her way across the pond. "How are you doing, Rita? Have you seen my cape?"

"I-I'm f-f-fine," Rita stammered, splashing through the water on shaking legs. She was banged up, and obviously shaken up, but other than that she seemed fine. "Y-y-your c-c-c-cape issss...o-over—" Unable to finish due to stuttering so much, she gestured to the other side of the pond. My cape was lying on the rocks, drenched but intact and neatly folded. My explorer badge, which I usually had pinned to it, was placed on top.

"Glad you're okay. Everything's good, then. So where are we?" I asked, looking around at the group surrounding me.

"This is the hot spring!" Teddiursa explained, splashing around for emphasis.

"Hot spring?" I looked down at the pool I was standing in and inched further in. The warm water lapped at my stomach. "It feels nice."

"Indeed!" a new voice agreed. I looked to my right. Up on the rocks, a Torkoal was heading down a slope, at the top of which towered a massive column that was presumably the geyser we'd shot out of. "It works wonders on tired muscles and creaky joints. Many explorers come here to relax after a hard day's work. You two seem to be explorers as well." He eyed Rita's bag and the badge on it, as well as the badge on top of my cape.

"Yes, sir," I explained. "We're members of Wigglytuff Guild. It's nice to meet you." The unusual good manners were due to the fact that this Torkoal appeared to be as old as dirt. Elderly Pokémon were supposed to be addressed _very_ politely.

Torkoal nodded. "It's always nice to meet explorers like yourselves. Tell me, youngsters, have you a map?"

"Y-yes, sssir." Rita set down her bag and pulled our wonder map out of it. Like everything else we owned, the bag and its contents, including our map, were all completely soaked. Luckily, the colors hadn't bled and, other than being wet, the map was still in good condition.

Torkoal beckoned us over with a twitch of his head. Once Rita and I had come up on the rocks, he took our map from us and laid it out on the rocks so all three of us could see. "There," he said as he set it out. "We are here." He pointed to a tiny brown circle of land directly east of the guild, though quite a distance away. "This is the hot spring's location."

Rita nodded, glancing between the locations of the waterfall and this hot spring. "W-wow...Llllook, Kai." She used the tip of her leaf to trace a line from the waterfall, which was to the northwest, to the hotsprings. The distance was probably just a little less than from here to the guild. "The...the water...c-c-carried ussss...a-all the w-way...o-over hhhere!"

Having overheard this, Torkoal seemed shocked. "My goodness!" he exclaimed. "It was the water that carried you all this way?"

"Yes, sir. We were exploring the waterfall and triggered a trap that flooded the cave we were in. I guess it washed us out here through the geyser. I hope we didn't bother anyone." Ugh...all this politeness was getting old really quickly. It felt like I was dying a little inside with every word I spoke. I didn't even have to be this nice to _Chatot_, let alone perfect strangers.

"No, no, no harm done," Torkoal assured us, "but what a long journey that must have been! Let the hot spring wash away your fatigue before you make your way home."

Neither Rita nor I were particularly opposed to this suggestion (or at all opposed, really), so we did as he suggested and spent about an hour just lazing around in the water and talking to everyone there. They were all pretty nice. Turned out Ursaring and Teddiursa were brother and sister and lived in Treasure Town, like us, but the others lived in smaller towns and villages nearby. The sun was low in the sky by the time we got back to the guild and relayed our adventures to Chatot.

"Let me see if I've got this all straight," Chatot said with a thoughtful hum. "Behind the waterfall, there is a cave, which leads to a mystery dungeon, and on the other side of that dungeon there is another cave with a lot of gems in it, with one gigantic gem in particular. There was nothing else of interest inside the cave."

"Yep, that was it," I agreed.

"When you pushed on this gigantic gem, it triggered a trap of some kind."

Rita nodded. "Y-y-yes, sssir."

"And, surprisingly, you were flushed off to the distant hot spring. Is that the gist of your report?"

"That's it," I said.

"Shhhould we have...t-t-tried to b-bring...a g-gem b-back...as e-...e-...evidence?" I blinked at Rita. Quite honestly, the thought of trying to bring back proof of what we saw had not occurred to me.

Chatot waved off her question with a chuckle. "No, no, no—emphatically, no! Your word is plenty. This is a major discovery!"

"Really?" I asked excitedly. Beside me, Rita was evidently getting a well-needed self-esteem boost, as she drew herself up a bit taller. "We didn't even find a Time Gear or something like that, but it's still that important?"

"Undoubtedly!" Chatot seemed just as excited as we were. What a change from this morning's devastation on everyone's part. "After all, the presence of the cave behind the waterfall, that's certainly significant!"

"..._We made a discovery_," Rita whispered to herself, looking a bit stunned. As she said that, something occurred to me—we _hadn't_ made the discovery. When I'd had those dizzy spells, I'd seen that pink Pokémon with the long ears, doing everything we did. And that Pokémon had seemed very familiar. Pink...long ears...round body—oh, of course! How could I not have realized it before?

"This is most definitely important. The Guildmaster—"

"Excuse me, Chatot," I blurted out, "but I think the Guildmaster has been there before."

For some reason, this question seemed to fluster Chatot. Almost the instant I stopped talking, he exclaimed, "N-no, no, no! Emphatically, _no_! Th-that's inconceivable! If...if that were so, the Guildmaster wouldn't have ordered you to investigate the place, right?" He sure seemed worked up. Hmm...suspicious, suspicious...

"But can you _swear_ that the Guildmaster has never, _ever_ been there?" I challenged him. (Rita, meanwhile, was rapidly turning her head back and forth like she was watching a match and didn't want to miss anything that happened.)

Chatot was quiet for a moment. "Hm...well, since you insist, I'll just have to confirm it with the Guildmaster...," he reluctantly decided. Hah! He knew I got him good. Score one for Kai! "Wait here." As he turned around to make his way to the Guildmaster's chambers behind him, he said in a low voice I'm certain we weren't supposed to hear, "Why they would want to spoil this is beyond me...though it shouldn't surprise me. These two are yet another strange group, aren't they?"

"Has that just occurred to you?" I asked incredulously. Chatot jumped guiltily. Yep, wasn't supposed to hear that. "Because if you need me to, I can help the lesson hit home by playing Super Kai—"

Before I even registered that anything had changed, Chatot was about two inches away pointing the tip of his wing in my face. "_No_. No more superhero games, _especially_ ones that involve traumatizing and/or injuring the rest of us. If I see _any_ more stunts like that, so help me..."

After that, I just sort of sat there, wide-eyed. I suppose you could say I was stunned. I was still in this state of shock when Chatot returned from his conversation with the guildmaster. "Wh-...what...d-d-did he sssay?" Rita asked once she realized that I wasn't going to.

Chatot ruffled his feathers like he always did before he told us a story. Good indicator that this was not the actual conversation that went on. "Well, when I asked the Guildmaster, he mulled it over for a bit, and then he said, 'Oh, memories! Sweet memories! Yoom...TAH!'" While saying this last bit, Chatot suddenly spread his wings out and leapt forwards. Rita and I practically killed each other trying to get out of the way. Chatot, however, seemed to be having a grand old time. "Then he danced around a bit"—now he flapped his wings and spun in a circle to demonstrate the Guildmaster's happy dance; Rita and I just stared at him like he was growing extra heads—"and said, 'Yes, yes! When I think about it hard, maybe I did go there once!'...And that's what the Guildmaster said," Chatot concluded, reverting to his usual serious attitude.

"That's a surprisingly detailed account you've got there," I muttered. There was no way this was what happened; Chatot had _way_ too much fun with that story. Though maybe questioning him wasn't a good idea after what happened when I mentioned superhero games...

Chatot didn't hear me, luckily. "To sum it up, it's just as Skitty suspected. He has indeed already been to the waterfall cave."

Rita looked disappointed. She really had been excited that we might have discovered something. "B-b-but...w-...why w-wouldn't he...ssssay sssomething?"

"The Guildmaster can be rather...um...erratic, at times," Chatot explained. "Even I can't quite fathom what goes on in his head." Shaking his head, then shrugging, he added, "Well, that's too bad for you." I rolled my eyes. What astounding sympathy. "You're free to go. I shall expect your best effort tomorrow!"

Rita and I exchanged dour looks as we retreated to our room to drop off our bag. "Well, that sucked," I grumbled, peeling off my superhero cape. It was still pretty damp from my near-drowning. I tossed it into the corner where Rita was setting down the guild bag before flopping down on the floor. Rita sighed, though I'm not sure if it was because she was nonverbally agreeing that our letdown sucked, or if it was because my superhero cape had just hit her in the face as she was turning around. "Oh...oops...sorry, Rita." Without saying a word, Rita laid my cape out on the floor to dry. "You're an extremely nice Pokémon, not getting angry with me for hitting you in the face with a wet cape, did you know that?" She just shrugged dismissively. "So, dinner ought to be starting soon. Afterwards, maybe we can get Charmander to come in here and help us dry our stujff off! Then should we call it a day?"

Rita nodded. "I...I-I'm rrready f-for...t-t-today t-to...b-be over." She sat down heavily, looking worn out.

"Too much excitement for one day, huh? Me, too." I knew exactly where she was coming from. I mean, over the span of about ten to twelve hours, we'd found out that time had stopped in this Treeshroud Forest place and that a Time Gear had been stolen there, jumped through a waterfall, went on a long and very pressure-filled search through a cave behind said waterfall, almost drowned, and then got shot out of a geyser and had to walk all the way home afterwards. Just thinking about it is exhausting.

"Yes...b-but...even ssso...i-it w-...it wasss...k-kind of...f-fun," Rita admitted with a sheepish expression.

I stared at her curiously. "You think?"

"Y-yeah..." She blushed. Such a shock, I know. "U-um...we d-d-did...g-get lllet...d-d-down...but it wa-...was our...v-very...f-f-first e-exploration. I...I d-don't...w-...want...want to...lllet that...rrrruin it."

She smiled. I smiled back. "It _was_ kind of exciting, doing our first real exploration, wasn't it? I wish I could still feel good about it like you do, but it feels kind of like a waste to me. In the end, we didn't do anything important. I'm pretty sure that Wigglytuff and Chatot were conspiring against us when they sent us to that waterfall. Like, maybe it was a test, or something. Chatot was having too much fun telling us that story about the Guildmaster's response for it to be the truth," I explained when Rita gave me a shocked look.

She tilted her head upwards a little, something I noticed she tended to do when she was thinking hard about something. After a while, she said, "I thhhink...it's ssstill i-...imp-p-portant, a-anyway. W-...we...we p-p-proved ourssselves...g-going thhhrough...th-that...c-c-cave. I...I think—I mmmean—um...it...it mmmade me thhink...mmmmaybe I...d-did the...rrright thing...j-joining the g-g-guild."

A little shocked by this display of semi-self-confidence, I didn't know what to say. Rita, in the meantime, had gotten up and rummaged in our guild bag and pulled out none other than her Relic Fragment. She set it on the ground in front of her and kept one foot on it. "I...um...I wa-...I want...to f-figure out the...the mmmystery...of m-my...mmmy...Rrrrrrelic F-fragment. I thhhink...w-...well...if I c-can...j-jump thhhrough...through a w-...wat-...waterfall...mmmaybe I..._c-could_...sssssolve it." She laughed a little and cracked a rare joke. "B-but...i-if I d-d-did...I'd p-p-probably just...c-cry from...from ha-happiness!"

It would have been funnier if I didn't have reason to wonder if that was an actual possibility, but I wasn't going to discourage her from actually joking around, so I chuckled. "Yeah...if I had finally accomplished something I was _that_ dedicated to, I'd probably _explode_ from happiness!"

"...But, um...s-...ssssseriousssly...th-thanks."

The unexpected gratitude caught me off guard. "Wait, huh? What do you mean? Thanks for what?"

"W-well...if I h-hadn't...mmmmet you, I w-w-...wouldn't b-b-be here. I-in the...G-g-guild. I...I thhhink...I-I'd ssstill have...b-b-been t-t-too...sssscared...b-b-by mmmyself," she admitted. Pushing the rock back and forth between her front feet, she continued, "Sssso it'ssss...rrreally b-because of you...that...I can...explore, lllike I ...a-always...w-...w-wanted t-t-to."

"Oh...well, you're welcome, Rita. But don't heap all the credit on me. Even if I'm the...catalyst, I guess...you're the one who decided to do all the stuff we did. It's not like I said 'oh, hey, let's go do this' and dragged y—" I paused, rethinking that. "Oh, wait...I actually _do_ do that...you just tend to go along with it...but, um, my point is that it's not like I literally _force_ you to do it. You could always say no. You're the one who decided you would join the guild with someone, and to cover for me when we thought I would have to sneak away to save Azurill, and to jump into the waterfall with me today, and all that."

"O-...oh..." Turning red in the face, Rita ducked her head and became very quiet. From what I could see, she still had that thinking-deep-thoughts look on her face, but she didn't say anything. She was probably trying to think of something else to talk about. Just as I was about to suggest we go bother one of the other apprentices, she spoke. "Um...I...I've b-been...thinking...I nnnnoticed...ssssomething a-...about your...v-visions, Kai. Y-you're always...t-t-t-touching ssssomething wh-...when...th-they happen."

My response was to stare at her. When I'd assumed she was thinking of something else to say, I have to admit that I hadn't anticipated something like _that_. "I...wow. I haven't thought about it that thoroughly. Are you serious?"

Rita nodded. "Y-yup...Like...w-...wh-...when...when you hhheard...A-Azurill's...s-s-ssscream...y-you were...h-holding his...a-apple, a-and...A-Azurill t-touched it..."

"...You're right," I muttered, thinking back to the event. "And later, when I actually saw what happened to him...Drowzee had bumped into me. And then I saw Wigglytuff when I stupidly tried to poke the waterfall and when we were trying to move that gem!"

Rita nodded enthusiastically. "A-and each of th-those...t-t-t-times, you...you'd t-t-touched...sssssomething...c-connected to...wha-...what you...sssssaw."

"Right," I murmured thoughtfully. "I heard Azurill screaming when we were both touching the apple. I actually saw him, and Drowzee, when Drowzee bumped into me, and he was the one that was going to kidnap him. And then, when I touched the waterfall and that big gem, I saw Wigglytuff...but...that was in the past!" I exclaimed. "So I can see into the future _and_ the past?"

"Thhhhat's...w-what it...llllooks lllike."

There was a long silence as the both of us processed these new revelations. "Not that having visions of the past and future isn't cool and all," I finally sighed, "but compared to the number of times I touch things in a day, it happens so infrequently that I can't really do anything with it. Now if I could _control_ it somehow—"

"Hey, you two!" The sudden interruption made me jump. The speaker was Chatot, standing in the entryway to our room. "Pardon my interruption, but the Guildmaster wants to see you right away."

Rita and I exchanged a glance. "Um...why?" I asked warily.

"You'll hear in due time." With that, he led the way out of the room, clearly expecting us to follow. We did, of course—Chatot's not-so-happy demeanor earlier was still fresh in my mind, after all.

"Do you think he heard us?" I hissed under my breath as we trailed behind him. "Is that the reason he's taking us to Wigglytuff and being so secretive about why?"

"_I don't know..._," Rita whispered, equally as worried. "_It would be really bad if he had..._"

"Tell me about it. Darn, I really just wanted to eat food and go to sleep after today's events. Is that too much to ask? What if I get killed on the way there and this would have been my last meal and night ever? What if he's leading us to...to...to an execution? For—for—um, what's the word—for conspiracy! Oh my gosh—we're going to be executed for conspiracy and I don't even get a last meal!"

"_Um...I think you mean 'for talking secretly'...but either way, your imagination is really, _really_ worrisome..._"

I didn't have time to reply to that because by this point, we were walking through the doorway into Wigglytuff's chambers. As formally as usual, Chatot announced (even though Wigglytuff was right there in front of us sitting on his rug and could see us), "Guildmaster, I've brought you Team Aster."

No reply.

"Guildmaster...Guildmaster?"

Just like the first time we'd met him, Wigglytuff suddenly burst into action, just minus the flopping-over-backwards part. "Hiya!" he exclaimed, waving animatedly.

Thankfully, after this much time spent in the guild, Rita and I were pretty used to his antics. "Hiya!" I cheerfully said back. There was no sign of impending doom in his expression, so maybe this actually _wasn't_ an execution!

Rita, on the other hand, seemed less than reassured. "We...we're nnnot...in t-t-t-trrrouble...a-are w-w-we?"

Wigglytuff laughed. "Oh, no! I just wanted to tell you something. I know your team went through a lot today—a _whole_ lot—but Chatot and I have been keeping watch on your activities, and we have pretty exciting news for you, so I didn't want to wait, especially with how sad everyone is today!" With a little bounce of happiness, and clapping his hands together with excitement, he exclaimed, "The guild is going to be mounting a full expedition soon!"

"Rrrrreally?" Rita asked excitedly, at the same moment as I asked, "What's an expedition? Particularly a full one?"

"Essentially, in the simplest of terms, it means that a certain portion of the guild members will go explore someplace far, far away," Chatot explained.

"So not all of the guild goes? Why is that?"

"Exploring the places one would mount an expedition to is much harder than exploring our nearby area. There's the travel time to account for—and most times the party divides into smaller groups that travel different routes, so that we may determine the most efficient ways to get to where we're going—and we always run the risk of running into trouble at any point both traveling there, exploring, and coming back. The Guildmaster and I must carefully consider which guild members are not only capable but are also responsible enough to receive this honor."

Wigglytuff nodded, uncharacteristically serious. "Chatot is right, you know. It's a lot of hard work, these expeditions. Usually, we would never, _ever_ consider rookies to be expedition members. It's probably a lot harder than what you would be used to." Then he grinned. "But you two are working so very hard! You've been doing so well that we made a special exception and decided to include you in the list of candidates!"

I felt my expression light up. "Seriously?"

Chatot nodded with a rare laugh. "Seriously."

I grinned widely. "Dude...that is awesome! Oh my gosh, Rita, is that not completely awesome?" I asked her. Rita didn't answer me; she was so excited that all she could do was attempt to stammer her thanks. "That's so awesome. Thank you! We'll work hard, we swear! This is seriously, definitely awesome."

"Now, now, calm down. You haven't been chosen as expedition members yet," Chatot chuckled. "There is still time before we give the final decision on who will be going. If you fail to do good work before then, you cannot expect to be selected."

"Oh. Well, that's kind of a buzzkill, but I'm sure we can pull it off. We've done all right so far, right, Rita?"

She nodded in agreement. "Y-yeah...I hope—I thhhink w-...we c-c-can...d-d-d-d-do it."

Wigglytuff punched the air encouragingly. "I'm sure you two can do it! Just try your hardest!"

"Feel free to consult us or any of the other apprentices if you have any questions. Everyone aside from Pikachu, Charmander, and Bidoof has been on at least one expedition before," Chatot added. "Other than that, you're free to go. Dinner should be served momentarily."

"Work hard!" Wigglytuff called after us, waving as we left the room.

"A-an exp-p-pedition!" Rita exclaimed as soon as we'd made it outside. "I c-c-can't...b-believe it. I...I'm...sssssso e-excited!" I had no trouble believing that—this was probably the most animated I'd ever seen her. With an intense look in her eyes, she insisted, "K-Kai...we...we hhhave t-to...w-...work...rrrreally h-hard, to...to mmmmake sss-ssure...we...we g-go!"

"Okay, okay!" I surrendered, laughing. "I want to go, too, you know. I'll definitely do my best and make absolutely sure our team gets to go!" I moved my tail to the side as an invitation for a high-five. "Team Aster! We're the best candidates of all!" I cheered as Rita obliged. "We'll make sure we get invited."

Rita giggled, smiling brightly and waving her leaf excitedly. "Y-yeah!"

* * *

**AN:/**

**Hi, everyone! How's it going? Things have been calming down a bit lately. Not completely, but a bit. Unfortunately, it came at the cost of one of my kittens' lives. We put him down a little after midnight on 10/7. It's pretty sad since he was only about five months old, but he was heading downhill fast. But enough about that depressing stuff! Did anyone else, while playing the game, suspect that Chatot and the Guildmaster sent you on a wild goose chase/test? I have to say I never did until I was paying close attention to the in-game dialogue while writing this! Always thought it was weird that everyone was all "oh, sob, oh, cry, Treeshroud Forest lost its Time Gear. Wait, never mind, let's be happy all of a sudden and go on an adventure!" but I never made the connection. Chatot's comments about spoiling the discovery also made me think he possibly knew that Wigglytuff had been there before. So at least in this fanfiction, in light of this new crisis, Wigglytuff and Chatot wanted to test the team (since Kai and Rita were rookies and they needed to make sure they could handle whatever came out of the situation in the end) and sent Team Aster to Waterfall Cave as a test. They were well aware of what was there but just weren't expecting Kai's magic visions.**

**So, aside from that, I've been getting quite a few favorites and author alerts lately! If any of you new people are reading this, thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and I hope you continue to do so! If you start not to (and this goes for everyone) tell me. I won't be able to improve if no one says a word! I appreciate you, too, older people. Espeically those of you who review! I have quite a few people who review every chapter and I am very grateful for that! So, now that it feels like an early Thanksgiving, on with the review replies!**

HikariNoTenshi-San: **Hm…can you narrow it down to "Fire Burning is changing something significant," or "Fire Burning is twisting something subtly," or "Fire Burning is seriously screwing with the plot?" I hope I'm not giving the impression that I'm taking the story in a completely different direction. As for the barrier, I decided that since there used to be a mine there (as implied by the mystery dungeon) the miners would have set something up so as to be able to get in and out. I really just needed something to explain why a bunch of tiny little Pokémon were able to jump off a ledge and through a giant pounding wall of water, which in real life should have killed them. Nah, Rita doesn't have any kind of connection to Treeshroud Forest. She's just that kind of person who feels deeply for other people, or Pokémon, in this case.**

Team Dasher: **Thanks for the sympathy, the tips, and for the support for Rita! I'm sure Team Aster appreciates it!**

Mystery-Bright: **Isn't it the greatest? I love the Lion King! I've watched it so often that when I went to see it in theatres, everyone I was with got angry with me because I knew most of the lines and kept whispering them with the characters. I'm not fun to watch that movie with, haha! No, Kai hasn't seen a Pokémon version of the movie, but your question inspired this chapter's random fact, so you'll find out why she knows the quote. Glad you like the way I write Chatot. I kind of saw him as that teacher who is hard to get along with but gives you fair grades. And thanks for the sympathy. Your cats have such cute names!**

Cardcaptornicole:** I felt sorry for Bidoof, too. I have two younger sisters who argue all the time so I know what it feels like when two people are literally having a discussion right over your head! And thank you very much for the compliments! I'm glad you're enjoying it!**

**So that concludes Chapter 5! No special episode this time around. There wasn't anyone who did anything interesting as this chapter went on since it only lasted a day and Chapter 6 picks up the day after. I know I said the guild members were going to question things in this chapter, but there was so much action that I think any more would have been too much. So the guild members will just have to question things in Chapter 6 (hopefully). Not that there's any less plot in Chapter 6...jeez, Nintendo, you're not making this easy on us lowly fanfiction writers. So in conclusion, look forward to plot, plot, and...gasp...more plot!**

**Random Fact #24:** When she was a human, Kai found a handwritten book of quotes from Pokémon World versions of our movies, video games, and books. As human-Kai loved to seem witty, she often liked to spout out these random quotes. They tend to leak out from the barrier in her mind blocking off her memory (refer to Chapter 2, Part 6: Gathering if you don't know what I'm talking about).


	25. Chapter 6, Part 1: Team Skull

The next day dawned with thick gray rainclouds overhead. It still looked like nighttime when Loudred woke us up, his voice even more jarring than usual in the quiet, gloomy atmosphere. The morning meeting started out subdued, but after our traditional cheers, Chatot decided to wake us up by formally announcing the guild's plans for an expedition. Naturally, we were all very excited.

"An expedition, you say? Yes, please!" enthused Bidoof. "Yes, sirree!"

"It's been a long time since we went on an expedition!" Sunflora squealed. "I'm so excited!"

"Definitely."

"Absolutely, positively!"

Chatot fluttered his wings to get our attention. "As I was explaining, there is a lake far to the east," he explained once most of us were quiet. "There are many aspects of that lake that remain mysterious. Almost nothing is known about it. Not only that, but it appears to be extremely difficult to find. As the purpose for our expedition, we hope to rediscover this lake and unravel its mysteries."

The new bit of information set of another set of excited exclamations. Over the renewed noise, Loudred shouted, "I'm waiting for the 'BUT' here. You're going to be picking members for the expedition from ALL of us again, right?" Many of the others frowned or glared, evidently annoyed at him for reminding Chatot of that.

Chatot nodded. "Precisely!" A chorus of sighs followed this statement. "Now, now, don't look so disappointed. Even if you do not wind up as a part of this expedition, I'm sure all of you will get your turns." He paused, waiting for the complaints to die away. When it did, he began to speak again. "We will depart in around ten days. Starting now, the guildmaster and I will begin to observe your activities and choose the most worthy apprentices. Those chosen members will form the expedition party."

A ringing sound preceded Chimecho's hesitant question. "Um, Chatot? How many of us do you and the guildmaster anticipate bringing?"

"As many of you as we feel can handle it. An expedition is no easy feat, as most of you here know, but if the guildmaster and I feel you're capable of the work, then you'll certainly be considered."

"What'll we do if we're not picked?" I asked.

"You'll handle jobs listed on our bulletin boards, as usual. Officer Magnezone will keep them updated. Those of you who remain here will have plenty of work to do."

"But what if we _all_ qualify?" called out Diglett. "Then what will happen?"

"Then I would presume that all of you would be invited to participate. Is that all?" Chatot asked impatiently. When no further questions came, he continued, "Very good. Well, then, everyone, work hard so that you may be chosen for the expedition!"

The noise instantly skyrocketed. Chatot and Wigglytuff very wisely made their escape immediately after the cheer. "Oh my gosh! This is so exciting!" I heard Sunflora exclaim to Bidoof and Chimecho.

"Yup yup! I've yet to go on an expedition," Bidoof admitted wistfully. "I would surely love to go this time!"

"Me, too; me, too!" Chimecho giggled, waving her long streamer and letting off the occasional ringing noise. "I didn't get to go on the last expedition. There were too many Dark- and Ghost-types around the ruins we visited. I really hope that I can go this time around!"

"Hey, hey! Skitty and Chikorita!" Corphish called from across the room. Rita and I turned to look at him, as did almost everyone else in the room. "Did Chatot say anything to you guys? Usually when he announces an expedition coming up he makes sure to say something like 'only experienced members will be able to go,' but this time he didn't."

"He did say something to us, actually," I said with a grin. "Apparently we've been doing well enough that he and the guildmaster are making a special exception for us. We might get to go, too!"

This news was met by much cheering and pats on the back.

"All right!"

"Well done, you two!"

"You guys really have been working hard!"

"Thanks, guys!" I said succinctly. Rita, on the other hand, looked extremely touched. That confused me a bit. In retrospect, I know that Rita and I were really very lucky to be part of a community that congratulated us rather than being a bit miffed that there would be extra competition, but at the time I thought that this was rather normal. I mean, after all, we were _always_ happy for each other, and I didn't have the experience to realize that not everyone in competitive groups like ours was like that.

"All RIGHT, then," Loudred shouted over the compliments, "let's all work at it and get picked as members!"

All of us cheered again just as loudly. By now, Rita and I had been conditioned to know what remarks would spark a group cheer, so now we could do it in synchronization with the rest of them. I often wondered how we looked to outsiders, especially with this fairly recent incident Chatot had yelled at us for, involving a few residents of Treasure Town suffering from food poisoning and being stalked by various accomplices for thirty-six hours straight. Rita got a weird look on her face when she heard who was targeted by this, so I guess she knew them, but I personally don't really know what all that was about. In any case, I decided that most of the Pokémon of Treasure Town already thought I was odd so my being in the guild wouldn't have much effect on my reputation.

"Off for another day of missions!" I announced as Rita and I joined a long queue going up the ladder. We'd brought our bag to the morning meeting, so all we needed to do was decide on our course of action. "Any kind of mission you particularly want to do today?"

"W-...well...w-we c-can...d-do mmmore...than...one j-j-job a-at a...t-t-time," Rita began to explain eagerly. At this point, she was already up the ladder and plowing her way through the crowd of eager apprentices to get to the bulletin boards. Seeing her so excited was strange, but in a good way. "Ssssso...llllet's t-take as...mmmany...j-jobs as...we...c-c-c-can!"

I grunted, heaving myself onto the upper floor and scurrying around the others to catch up with Rita. "That's so we'd seem more responsible and capable and stuff like that, right? As long as we don't take so many that we get killed, that would definitely get the guildmaster's attention. Well, actually...getting killed would to that, too, but that's not the kind of attention we—umph!" I let out a whoosh of breath when she suddenly stopped dead and I slammed into her from behind. We both fell and wound up sprawled in a pile on the floor. "What the—" I broke off when I picked up my head and saw just what it was that had given Rita such a shock.

Normally, this early in the morning, only we apprentices were inside because Loudred and Diglett hadn't started sentry duty yet, but there they were—Koffing and Zubat, our tormentors from the day Rita and I had met. The two had been examining the Job Bulletin Board until our ruckus had alerted them to our approach. "Hey!" Zubat exclaimed just as Koffing asked, "You two?" The both of them retreated from the board as quickly as if it had spontaneously combusted.

"Yeah, us," I spat at them, picking myself up off the floor. Rita followed my cue, still looking pretty stunned. "We joined the guild as a team. So what are _you_ two doing here in _our_ guild?" Lowly, so as not to make this suggestion a reality quite yet, I added, "We say the word, and I'm willing to bet everyone in this room will just walk all over you." Quite true, but getting anyone to hear or see us in this crowd would be the tricky part...

Zubat and Koffing looked at the number of Pokémon in the room and then exchanged a glance. "Your petty little threats won't work on us," Koffing scoffed less than confidently. "And what was that about 'your' guild, huh? I'll have you know that we're an exploration team, too."

"Yeah," Zubat agreed with a grin, "and what's so funny about an exploration team checking out the Job Bulletin Board?"

Rita gasped, and I stared at them, wide-eyed. "No way. You creeps are an _exploration team_?"

"That's right, though the way we operate isn't always...say...by the book." Feeling much more self-assured now that he and Zubat had the upper hand, Koffing added, "But what a surprise! Why would _you_ two be here?"

The two of them started to advance on us, but clearly thought better of it after a glance at the apprentices still gathered around the bulletin boards. I took a step back for firmer footing, just in case, and hissed, "I _told_ you, we're an exploration team training at this guild."

Zubat and Koffing laughed at the same moment. It was a testament to how noisy and/or distractible our guild could be that no one around us heard. "What?" Zubat choked out. "You want to become real-deal exploration team members?" Still chuckling, he and Koffing looked at each other and then moved as one to surround Rita on both sides. She let out a squeak of fear and flinched away, but they followed her movement.

"Hey! You leave her alone," I growled, flattening my ears to my head.

"Geez, you're annoying. Just shut up already, would ya? Even a dumb loser like this one can speak up for itself," snapped Zubat.

I was shocked into silence for a moment. As soon as I recovered, though, I'm willing to bet you could see actual steam coming out of my ears. "You did not just say that. You didn't just insult Rita and call her an it. You did _not_."

Ignoring me, Koffing said to Rita, "You, come with us for a second." He and Zubat herded her a small distance away, where I could see them start to badger her. Rita tried to get away, but they kept bumping her back into place whenever she so much as shifted.

"I am going to kill you! Hey! _Hey_! Don't ignore me; I'm talking to you!" I shouted at their backs. I had begun to storm over there when something—or, rather, someone—halted me by holding on to my tail. "Ow! Who's pulling my tail off, and do you really want to continue doing so and be beaten to death?"

"No, not really, but what's going on?" Without my noticing, a group of three had caught on to the situation—Corphish, Croagunk, and Pikachu, who was the one that had spoken. "Who are those guys, what did they do, and do they deserve beatings, death, or a full-blown, gory massacre?" he added, letting go of my tail once he was sure I wasn't going to leave them hanging.

"Just from the looks of it, I'd say a gory massacre sounds good," Corphish commented, taking in Zubat and Koffing's pushiness, Rita's desperate attempts to get away, and my very evident anger.

"They're an exploration team that likes to pick on Rita. They wanted to talk to her 'alone,' so they dragged her off and won't let her go! I don't know what kind of things they're saying to her, but they're probably insulting or demeaning. And they called her an _it_!" I emphasized.

Croagunk chuckled and very deliberately cracked his knuckles. "So it's a massacre, then."

"No doubt about it," Corphish agreed. "Sounds fun."

"Massacres are always fun. Good practice, too," Pikachu added, his cheek pouches sparking.

I was startled enough to forget about being angry upon the realization that they were serious about beating up Rita's tormentors. "Whoa, hold on a second!" I exclaimed. "I thought you were joking about beating them up! Won't that get you in trouble if you're caught? You might not get to go on the expedition!"

Pikachu waved one paw dismissively. "You're talking like Chatot and the guildmaster are heartless. We might have to go without dinner or something to keep up appearances, but they won't hold it against us if we tell them _why_ they have bodies to dispose of. Heck, if they see us at it, they'd probably cheer us on."

He, Croagunk, and Corphish began to head over to where Zubat and Koffing were still picking on Rita. "You just wait here, 'kay, Skitty?" Corphish called back.

"No way! I'm helping," I told them—I mean, hey, if it's not going to get me kicked out, why let them have all the fun?—but it seemed that all this was unnecessary, because Rita finally managed to break away from Zubat and Koffing.

"Nnnno! I—I'll w-...work...sssssso hard that I...I'll e-even...be...p-p-picked for the...exp-p-pedition!" she exclaimed as she backed away and darted behind our group for safety.

"Well, effort only gets you so far," Zubat pointed out in a falsely sweet voice. "You won't get picked for this expedition if you don't have talent, right? It all comes down to talent—pure talent!"

"Hey, hey! That's a lot of big talk, but what kinds of skills do _you_ have?" Corphish demanded.

Pikachu added, "Good question. From what I've heard, those two beat you not too long ago!"

"We'd love to see if we could do the same," Croagunk said with a cackle.

Realizing that it was now five against two, and that this new, larger commotion was attracting a lot of glances, Zubat and Koffing were on the defensive, looking for a way to get out of the situation. "Well, we didn't have the Chief with us then," Zubat said nervously, his eyes darting from one side to the other in desperation. "Our Chief is incredibly talented."

"To put it bluntly, he's brutally tough."

"If the Chief were around, we'd snap you like a twig."

"Wait, wait," I interrupted. "Who's this 'Chief' you're talking about?"

Zubat rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Well, he's the _Chief_! The leader of our exploration team!"

"You mean there's _another_ one of you?" Pikachu groaned.

Both of them seemed to have misunderstood the tone of voice Pikachu had used, for they seemed to take it as a lament about how many members we had to stand up to. "That's right. Team Skull—our exploration team—has three members," Zubat proudly declared. "And the Chief is the biggest, strongest, and bravest out of all of us. You wouldn't stand a chance against _him_!"

Koffing seemed to notice something, because he turned towards the ladder. "And speaking of the Chief, I can smell him coming now!"

Following his gaze, we spotted a Skuntank headed down. As he stepped off the ladder and loomed over our group, we realized how much bigger he was. I don't think Skuntank were normally so big, but he certainly was taller and wider than any of us. "Move it! Out of the way!" he snapped, and from the tip of his tail sprayed a terrible-smelling fluid. The group of us stumbled backwards to try and avoid it, tripping over one another in our haste but successful in the end. The terrible smell (and our startled shouting) was attracting the attention of everyone in the room, but Skuntank ignored that and breezed past us over to Zubat and Koffing.

"Chief! You showed them, Chief! You're the best!" the two bullies cheered.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So did you two sniff out any jobs that'll bring in the cash?"

Koffing began, "Well, the Job Bulletin Board only posted cheap tasks today, but—"

"There's something else, Chief!" Zubat interrupted. Koffing shot him a nasty look for stealing the spotlight. "It's got the potential to go big!"

He muttered into the Chief's ear. A slow, wide grin bloomed on Skuntank's face. "Oh, that _does_ sound tasty." Shooting a pointed look towards the others so they wouldn't say anything and give me away, I crept closer to the group to try and eavesdrop. "Let's...out...We..." Koffing caught on and signaled to the other two to keep their voices down. After that I couldn't hear anything else, and angrily stalked back to my group. Almost at the same time, Skuntank announced, "Come on. We're going." He led the way up the ladder, pointedly ignoring all of us.

Koffing and Zubat began to follow, but paused before flying up and out of the room once they realized that every occupant was watching them. "What are you all staring at? This isn't a public performance!" The onlookers quickly glanced away. Satisfied, Koffing left in pursuit of Skuntank.

Zubat chuckled. I didn't like the look on his face, like he knew something we didn't. "See you around, wimps," he said to Rita and me. Then he, too, left.

Instantly, I whipped around to look at Rita. "Are you okay, Rita?" Similar questions were asked by Pikachu and Corphish, while Croagunk just crossed his arms and tried to look cool and collected.

"I-I...y-y-yeah," she stammered. "Thhhey...d-d-didn't...d-do a-anything...b-b-besides...p-p-push mmme."

"What did they want to talk to you about?"

Rita deliberately avoided eye contact with any of us. The others I could understand—Rita still wasn't quite comfortable with them—but not looking at me meant that they had said something hurtful.

"Rita?"

"Chikorita?"

"What did they say?"

"I'm still up for massacring them if needed."

Rita looked a little worried by Croagunk's mention of a massacre, but she reluctantly admitted, "They...t-t-told me to...g-give up...b-being...an exp-plorer. Thhhhey sssaid...I'm...t-t-too...e-easily sssssscared, ssssso...I c-can't c-cut it..."

"Okay, we're going after them now," Corphish announced. The two other boys nodded in agreement.

"Oh—guys—wait!" I called after them, but within moments they were headed up and out of the guild. With a sigh, I muttered, "They're going to get themselves knocked out." That smelly fluid Skuntank sprayed in here was so potent that even now it was enough to make someone gag.

"I...I rrrreally am...j-just a...wimp," Rita mumbled.

This issue took precedence over the boys' imminent doom, so I pushed my concern for them away and irritably snapped, "No, you're not, so knock it off." Rita looked away guiltily. "...Sorry, they really got on my nerves. I can't stand bullies...But seriously, Rita, you're not a wimp. You saw the three of them having their private conversation just now, didn't you?" She nodded. "They're up to something, and whatever it is Zubat's thought up, we're in the way of it. I'm thinking that's why he and Koffing tried to discourage you—so you'd give up and leave, and our team wouldn't exist anymore. It must have something to do with the guild if that's really the case..." I paused, trying and failing to make a connection. "But what could they want from the guild that we stand in the way of?"

"I d-d-don't knnnow...," Rita said thoughtfully. She still seemed a bit down, but the mystery was a sufficient distraction.

"Let's think about it while we take on our missions," I suggested. "You wanted to do a bunch, right? Let's see if there's a lot of them for one area. That way we won't have to head all over the place." The two of us headed over to the Job Bulletin Board. "Look, here's one for, um...I think that says...Mount Bristle!" I pointed out, trying to encourage her. "It's a rescue mission, and...never mind, I can't really make out the rest. You need to help me out here."

In the end, we decided to take on a couple of standard missions that were taking place in Mount Bristle, along with promising to keep an eye out for an outlaw while we were there. We completed all of the missions, though we didn't get to go home until well after dinner. We'd even found that outlaw! He wasn't all that challenging, to be honest. He'd surrendered as soon as we identified ourselves, the coward. Anyway...when we'd turned him in, Officer Magnezone had said that there was a reward, but he would have to deliver it to us later. After we'd collected our rewards from our other clients, we met with one of Officer Magnezone's deputies.

"Officer Magnezone sends his apologies for not being able to present this to you himself," the Magnemite stated, "but something came up at the station. He asks that I explain your reward to you." He set a small basket on the ground. Inside the basket, surrounded by blankets, was something small and ovular.

Rita and I peered closer. "Is...is that an egg?" I asked incredulously. "You're giving us an egg?"

The Magnemite deliberately blinked, its form of a nod. "Yes."

I was horrified. "Why would you do that? What about its parents? Who would ask someone to give up their egg?"

Rita looked equally appalled. "Thhhat...that's...sssssso sssad..."

"Oh, my gosh, the police department is kidnapping children! You're kidnapping children! The police department is really an organized association of criminals!"

"You misunderstand," Magnemite was quick to correct us, as multiple horrified glances shot our way at the sound of my accusations. "A few days ago I asked your guildmaster whom he felt would be appropriate to ask to take responsibility for an egg, and when he recommended your team, I assumed he had discussed with you the agreement between our department and your guild." He began to explain, with bursts of static throughout the following speech, "Yes, we often give eggs to exploration teams as a 'reward' of sorts. But the eggs we re-home are either orphans or found in mystery dungeons."

This admission startled both Rita and me enough that we forgot to be so angry. "Oh...that's even sadder...never mind, everyone, false alarm!" I called out to the onlookers, who went back to their own business. "But why give one to us? We're getting there, but we're not actually adults yet. What would we do with an egg?"

"The reasoning sounds strange, but really makes quite a lot of sense. There is no formal process for adoption in this area, so finding homes for children is incredibly complicated, and there are too few Pokémon willing to go through it. These situations make it difficult for us to place eggs before they hatch, so in order to not have to send them to a group home, we attempt to find willing exploration teams to foster them," Magnemite explained. "Exploration teams who operate through this guild have resources that most Pokémon would not have, such as a twenty-four hour daycare only for members of teams, located within Treasure Town. As long as you stop by and take an interest in the Pokémon that hatches, since the guild funds this daycare, it looks after eggs and the Pokémon that hatch from them free of charge. The Pokémon running it is aware of the situation; she really enjoys having the hatchlings around all the time."

I exchanged an uneasy glance with Rita. "What do you think?" I asked her quietly. "It sounds like Wigglytuff thinks it would be fine, and if this daycare-running Pokémon is really willing to take care of it, then we don't have to worry so much about what to do. Maybe it would be fun." Rita was thinking hard about it, so I tried to do the same and imagined what it might be like if we took in this egg. My eyes lit up as I enthused, "Oh, oh, when it hatches, the Pokémon inside could be our little sister! We could name her, and teach her a whole bunch of stuff, and wouldn't it be so cool to watch her grow up? Naturally, she'd idolize us, so we could tell her all about our exploration team, and then, maybe one day she'll want to join! Wouldn't that be _so_ cool, Rita? It would be so much fun to share a sister!"

Rita seemed a little less optimistic than me. "_I don't know..._," she whispered. "_I think it would be a lot of work, even if we do have the daycare person take care of it..._" Even so, she couldn't help but admit with a small smile, "_But it might be fun to—_"

"It's settled then!" I announced, not waiting for Rita to finish her sentence beyond the part where she expressed some willingness to take in the egg. "We'll take responsibility for the egg and talk to this daycare Pokémon."

Magnemite seemed to be pleased, though one couldn't be too sure since he didn't have facial features to express it with and his voice was rather monotone. "Excellent. Allow me to escort you to Chansey's daycare," he offered, "as neither of you have hands to carry this basket with." At our nods, he carefully slipped the handle of the basket into the loop of the magnet on his right side, and rose up into the air, tilted to the left so the basket was safely cradled in the magnet's curve. "Please follow me."

The daycare turned out to be just inside Treasure Town. It was a cute but rather large egg-shaped house, pink in color, with a huge yard that had in it more toys than I'd know what to do with. A tiny Weedle, Poliwag, and Poochyena were playing in the yard, and we could hear their happy squeals before we even saw the house.

Chansey was standing close to the house, supervising with a very content expression on her face. She spotted us coming and called to the three kids, "Wade, Polly, Yen, play nice while I talk to our guests, all right?" By the time she had finished her sentence, we had reached her, and she turned to us, smiling. "Hello there," she said kindly, looking between me to Rita and then to Magnemite. "And Deputy Magnemite! How nice to see you again!" she trilled, and then to us she said, "I haven't met the two of you before! You must work at the guild if you've come to see little old me, right?" Her head snapped around to Magnemite. "You've given these girls an egg for their team to look out for, haven't you? Oh, how wonderful for you!" she finished, looking at us again. Watching her rapid shifts in attention was actually a little overwhelming, and in addition to that she wasn't giving us any leeway to respond. "My, my, you two are so young, but you must be pretty capable if you've been given such an honor. I'd be happy to look after this one, too, of course. Deputy, you must let me see the little dear!" She beckoned, extending her stubby arms towards the basket.

"Of course." Carefully floating closer to Chansey, he allowed her to take the egg from the basket.

"Oh, look at you. You're a gorgeous one, aren't you?" Chansey cooed. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure the children were still occupied before carefully turning the egg in her hands to inspect it from all angles. For the first time, Rita and I were able to get a good look at it. The small egg was pale green with two red spots, each on opposite sides. "Such a lovely colored eggshell! Oh, and you're not so far from hatching, now are you? Yes, you seem to be in fine condition." She looked at Rita and me and explained, "I haven't seen an egg like this one before. I'm not sure what will hatch from it. We have a little mystery on our hands!"

"Now I'm even _more_ excited for it to hatch!" I exclaimed, but in the meantime, Chansey had plowed on with her monologue.

"Now let's get this little one settled before the other children catch on and get too excited." She slipped the egg into the pouch on her stomach, which I now noticed had been empty. The egg was little enough that it was practically swallowed up inside. "I haven't had an egg since dear Wade hatched," she enthused, fondly glancing towards the Weedle. "You'd know Corphish, right? He fostered the egg that Wade here hatched from. He and the other two just adore him. Corphish is so awfully fond of the little ones, you know; he stops by so often I sometimes forget he's not one of them!" She smiled. "But you're more concerned about _your_ little friend, aren't you? No need to worry, the egg will be safe with me. Feel free to stop by whenever you want to check up on it. I'll of course send word as soon as it begins to hatch, but it looks as if that won't be for at least a few days. Oh, and the guild pays for all of the expenses, so you don't need to worry about that either, dears. Just try your best to stop by every few days to say hello. I know how busy you must be, and it all must be a bit overwhelming right now, but we want this little one to know who's responsible for him!"

Mostly it was her who was overwhelming, but miraculously, I'd managed to absorb most of the information that she'd thrown at us. "We'll come as often as we can," I eagerly agreed, exchanging a glance with Rita to make sure she agreed. Since my enthusiasm was catching, that situation wouldn't be a problem. "I can't wait until the egg hatches!"

"I'll be taking my leave now," Magnemite announced. To us, he added, "Thank you for both your hard work and your selflessness in accepting this responsibility!" and then he floated up to a height where he wouldn't have to watch for heads and drifted off.

"We should head back, too," I said to Rita, and she nodded in agreement. "Bye, Chansey! Thanks for taking care of the egg."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all," Chansey happily replied. "I just love having so many little ones around. I hope to be seeing the two of you soon!" she called, waving as the two of us turned and headed back towards the guild.

Almost as soon as we were out of Chansey's earshot I started gushing, "Can you believe it, Rita? We get to help take care of an egg!"

"Y-yeah! I—"

"What kind of Pokémon do you think will hatch? It'll probably be green, right?" I plowed on. "But there were those spots, too! Is there a spotted Pokémon that's mostly green?"

"I d-do—"

"This is so cool! I can't wait to tell everyone about Gloria!"

"K-Kai, I d—" Once my statement had sunk in, Rita looked incredibly confused. "W-wait...what?"

"Gloria, Rita, Gloria!" I impatiently repeated. "Let's name the Pokémon Gloria!"

"B-but...w-...what if it'ssss...a b-b-boy?"

I snorted dismissively. "Boy, shmoy. We're girls, so the Pokémon in that egg has to be a girl, too, right? Otherwise they wouldn't give that one to us."

"I...I d-d-don't thhhink...that'ssss...h-how it...works..."

"Sure it does!" I honestly believed that there was no way a boy Pokémon could hatch from that egg. "You just don't get it, Rita. You know how a mom and a dad are a boy and a girl? Since the egg is around a boy Pokémon and a girl Pokémon, that means the egg they get can hatch into a Pokémon that can be a boy or a girl! But we're both girls, so the girl-ness overpowers the boy-ness and makes the Pokémon in the egg a girl! Plus there's Chansey, which makes it more a girl!"

Rita was looking more and more lost with each passing second. "I...you...what? I...I d-don't u-understand! Th-that's nnnnot...h-how it...works!"

"Well, fine, then how does it work? What makes a Pokémon a girl or a boy?"

Rita blushed deeply and remained silent, since the answer, I would later find out, touched on some very awkward topics.

"Rita? Why did you go all quiet? Why aren't you answering me? Come on! Why won't you tell me?"

Rita never answered me, so I mentioned my thoughts to the rest of the apprentices. This caused a very awkward silence at the dinner table, though I didn't understand why until later, when Chatot and Wigglytuff took me aside in order to explain exactly where eggs came from and what about that makes Pokémon boys and girls. And that's where I leave you, because not even murderers should have to suffer through the horrors of Chatot trying to explain the facts of life.

* * *

**AN:/**

**Hi, everyone! How's it going? Hopefully everything's going well. So, Team Aster's got their first potential teammate! A mystery egg, apparently named Gloria! Any ideas what mystery egg might be? I won't tell you if you're right, but it might be fun to guess anyway. Hope you enjoyed Kai's misguided theories. She's like a little kid, thinking she's got the world figured out and then being proved oh so wrong. Oh, and for those of you who owndered what exactly Charmander and Pikachu did in the special episode to take revenge on Rita's bullies, there you have it. Food poisoning, courtesy of one of Croagunk's weird concoctions, and mental scarring, courtesy of the apprentices who stalked them.**

**So, I'm considering writing an original story based on PMD. I need to take the occasional break from Kai and her energy and Rita's...Rita-ness, and as strange as it sounds, I think writing a story based on an already existing plot exhausts my creativity faster than writing an original fanfiction would...That, and I want to try a mystery dungeon fic with my own plot, rather than one from the games'. Not to worry, though—our dear Team Aster will still be my main focus, and since things are mostly less hectic for me chapters will probably still be finished about the same pace (not that said pace is at all impressive in the first place...). So if you notice me post a new fanfiction, know that I went through with my plans. I will have a lot of with the story I'm cooking up~ Say hello to government upheavals, secret resistance organizations, and humans-turned-Pokémon that are looked at as gods!**

**Oh lovely reviewers, it is time to acknowledge your awesomeness by responding to the reviews with which you have gifted me!**

Cardcaptornicole**: Aww, that's so sad. I'm sorry about your goldfish and your sister's rabbit! But thank you for the sympathy!**

Team Dasher**: No, no, the tips are fine! They keep the statistical things fresh in my mind! I do appreciate the mission request, but unfortunately I think if I wrote a chapter on my characters doing a mission for your team, then I would have to do missions that the other reviewers asked for, and that would be an awful lot. I did have Kai and Rita go on a rescue mission to Mt. Bristle, though. We'll say it's your team that they rescued. ;)**

HikariNoTenshi-San**: Kai has had that scolding coming, you gotta admit. Super Kai is just the tip of the iceberg. She can be a bit abrupt and just does as she pleases, usually without concern for anyone but Rita, and sometimes not even that. I can only imagine how annoying she must be to the minor characters. XD And not only did Rita speak a full two sentences in the last chapter, in the one after this, she speaks a full _paragraph_! Call in the reporters and newscasters!**

Sweet but Psycho**: I don't mind shorter reviews, as long as you continue pointing out my silly grammatical errors and any other brain-controlling aliens Kai may encounter in the future. =] Thanks for doing that!**

Mystery-Bright**: Haha, I should just get you all to ask random questions if this is the response I get for putting their answers in random facts! Actually, that would help a lot with coming up with these facts...And glad you liked the Grimer children. That part was quite fun to write.**

**So if you didn't read my response to Mystery-Bright's review, I need ideas for random facts, so ask me random/strange questions about the story! Ask them about Kai or Rita! Ask them about the Pokémon of the guild! Ask them about Kai's imaginary pet wall, Bob! Don't ask them about the egg, but almost everything else is fine as long as it can be turned into a good random fact. "Bow down and profess your love unto me, your lord...or I shall destroy you!" (Supernatural, anyone? No? Is this just me making a fool of myself again with obscure quotes?)**

**Until next time! Oh, and Happy Halloween! Random Fact #25:** Kai enjoys boats. She likes to sit under ones that are overturned and sing "I'm under a boat!" making it as drawn out and obnoxious as possible. (This was inspired by my youngest sister and I, while in the pool, flipping over a inflatable chair, standing under it, and singing the aforementioned song as loudly and obnoxiously as possible. We do this frequently enough throughout the summers that the neighbors don't even look out their back doors anymore.)


	26. Chapter 6, Part 2: A Busy Day

Four days later, Rita and I were officially on a roll. In just that last couple of days, we'd completed a total of eight missions, and captured three outlaws. Rita was really getting good at it; or, well, at least she wasn't getting _quite_ so scared anymore when we went looking for one of the big baddies. It seemed our name was getting around because of our hard work, too. Exploration teams we'd never met before were coming up to us to acknowledge our recent hard work. No idea how they all knew what we were doing and all that, but it seemed we were doing well enough that our team was getting noticed. Rita was very uncomfortable with this, but I loved it. I mean, come on; other than Rita, who doesn't love a good ego boost? Bring on the recognition!

Unfortunately, despite all this ego-boosting, our good spirits were tempered by rumors circulating through the apprentices. It seemed that Team Skull had stopped by the guild again and had spent quite some time talking to the guildmaster and Chatot. Later that day, another group of Pokémon had done the same thing. It was really weird, and really concerning. Special visits to the guildmaster, especially two different groups in one day, wasn't commonplace, and aside from that, so far, any appearance whatsoever of Team Skull had spelled out nothing but trouble for our team. Not even the other apprentices liked them, mostly because the majority of them had seen what went on between Rita and the two bullies and the rest had heard the story. The strangers did nothing but make us even more nervous, since no one had gotten a good enough look at them to even be able to tell who or what kinds of Pokémon they were. We were half convinced that our team would be disbanded and the two of us ejected from the guild.

So when Rita and I showed up to the morning assembly on that fourth day later, prepared for the worst, we weren't disappointed.

"Everyone, I have an announcement before we get down to work," Chatot told us after the conclusion of our cheers. "Let me introduce our new allies!"

Nervously, Rita and I exchanged a glance as mutters erupted around us. "They wouldn't...would they?" I asked her, desperate for a confirmation that Team Skull could not—would not—sabotage us this way. Rita's bleak expression was enough to give her answer away.

"Quiet down, quiet down," Chatot shushed us. Once we were sufficiently subdued, he continued, "Now..." He looked to his right, but seemed surprised that the spot he was looking at was unoccupied. After looking around and seeing no one, he called towards the ladder, "If you'd be so kind, over here, please!"

Rita's and my worst fears were realized when a terrible smell swept over us from that direction. The bottom of my stomach dropped out. All of us held our breaths and our tongues, to keep from saying anything insulting, as down the ladder climbed none other than Skuntank, Koffing, and Zubat. They were, unexpectedly, followed by another group of three: an Eevee and a Vulpix, led by a Blastoise. The whispers renewed at the sight of these three extra visitors; at least one of them must have been a familiar face, though I didn't recognize them.

I glanced behind me at poor Rita, but any hope of a silent conversation was squashed the moment I looked at her. She seemed so stricken that I wasn't sure she was even remembering to breathe. "Rita! Are you okay?" I hissed. I tried to discreetly smack her legs with my tail in hopes of snapping her out of it, but it made no difference. She was still completely fixated.

"Settle down, everyone!" Chatot prompted. I reluctantly turned around to face front. "Firstly," he began once everyone was reasonably quiet, "I'd like you to meet Team Skull."

"I'm Koffing," the Poison-type said, trying to seem as if he didn't recognize us but completely failing at that when he glanced in our direction and smirked. I glared at him with all I was worth.

Zubat noticed this exchange and chuckled to himself. "Zubat here. Glad to meet ya."

Then Skuntank took a step forwards, looking over each and every one of us with an unmistakable holier-than-thou attitude. "And I'm Team Skull's leader, Skuntank. Remember that." Slowly, he turned to us with a grin. "Especially you two..."

Glancing from our team to Team Skull, Chatot asked, "You're already acquainted?" He looked quite confused, and I realized that his confusion meant that Team Skull hadn't mentioned their "problems" with us to Chatot. I wasn't sure whether I should be glad of that, or even more worried. They didn't seem like the type who have the patience to carry out big plans.

Skuntank brushed it off, saying cryptically, "Oh, we've bumped into each other once or twice..."

Chatot glanced between our two groups again, looking even more troubled as he tried and failed to make the connection between us. "Well, I suppose it simplifies things...," he muttered to himself, apparently giving up. "Now, everyone, I'm sure you all recognize him, but I'd like to introduce you to Blastoise." Blastoise nodded towards our group as a greeting. Everyone's eyes turned to him, including those of Team Skull, and the whispers grew louder. Even Rita was staring intently despite her shock. So this guy was the one who had everyone worked up! "Blastoise is a skilled instructor of aspiring exploration teams. Vulpix and Eevee are his current students." The two girls, who were older than Rita and I were, were standing on either side of Blastoise and puffed themselves up proudly when they were mentioned. "Blastoise will be taking his students with us on our expedition so that they too might gain experience with large-scale explorations."

With a gracious dip of his head, Blastoise addressed the whole of us, "My students and I thank you for allowing us this opportunity." His voice was low, but just opening his mouth was enough to capture the attention of every Pokémon in the room. "I have not had the chance to work with this guild in quite a long time, but I see its good turnout has not changed." He cast an evaluating glance over us. "Though I have never spoken to you, I can tell by just looking at you that all of you must be quite capable. My students and I look forward to our time working together."

This conclusive statement seemed to be a cue for us all to start whispering about him. Most of the others, from what I could hear, were discussing how cool and impressive he was. Chimecho and Sunflora did not help in ridding the world of the stereotypical image of swooning girls as they giggled like idiots over his "dreamy" voice. Though I wouldn't go so far as to say _that_, I suppose that Pokémon might see him as...charming, I guess is the right word. What I saw was that he was skilled at the art of smooth-talking and shameless flattery. He also seemed a bit detached, like he was only speaking to us because as a grateful guest he was obligated to.

"Settle down, now; settle down!" Chatot was quick to interrupt. Once the noise had died down as much as it was going to with all the excitement, he continued, "As Blastoise has told us, he and his students will be cooperating with us on our expedition. Team Skull, too, will be joining our expedition to lend their assistance."

"Are you _kidding_ me?" I blurted out almost the second the words were out of his mouth. "You can't let them come with us!" A few of the other apprentices, the ones who weren't fixated on Blastoise quite so much and finally realized what Team Skull's presence meant, looked as if they quite agreed with me.

Chatot glanced over at me, looking a bit wary. Before he could say anything, though, Skuntank quickly cut in. "Chatot, sir, it's nothing," the much larger Pokémon insisted. "That one always overreacts to every little thing."

"I do not!" I protested. "You're up to something, and based on past experiences, I doubt it's anything good."

From an angle at which Chatot couldn't see him, he shot me a venemous look quite clearly telling me that I'd better shut my mouth or else I'd be smelling rotten eggs very quickly. I glared right back at him, unfazed. Rita probably would have told me not to make waves, and I'm sure she was cringing behind me as she watched this exchange, but this was my ball game. I won't tolerate Team Skull trying to terrorize our team, and I won't tolerate them fulfilling their most likely selfish motives in our guild.

Skuntank quickly forced a hurt expression onto his face. "I didn't realize our being here would upset these apprentices so much," he said sadly. Turning to Koffing and Zubat, he told them, "It might be better if we just back out gracefully..."

Chatot's eyes narrowed as he once again glanced between us and Team Skull. "Settle down, please, Skitty," he said sternly. "Team Skull, I'm not sure what the issue is, but I insist that we give it a chance to resolve itself. It would be a shame if you were to back out before anything has even begun!"

A relieved and grateful expression flooded onto Skuntank's face. "Thank you, sir. We don't want to cause problems for your guild, but we'll give this a try." I had to admit, he had a knack at deception; I wouldn't have caught on if I didn't know him.

I was just about to angrily blurt out another protest—how dare Chatot just ignore my concerns like that?—when Chatot himself shot a quick but apologetic look in my direction. I was taken aback, but worked out what it meant pretty easily: he didn't necessarily disbelieve me, but he couldn't do anything about it. Now that I thought about it, I supposed that guild representatives couldn't just go around accusing their guests without any concrete proof to back it up. There were probably more tactful ways I could have gone about expressing my concerns, too, which may have been more productive. I quickly turned my impending outburst into a heavy sigh. Well, if nothing else, at least he knew something was up.

"The guildmaster has made his decision," Chatot declared, eyeing an upset-looking Wigglytuff while Skuntank shot us a smug look over Chatot's head. Our glaring contest continued as if there had been no interruption. "He has decided that having this trio take part in our expedition will make us stronger on the expedition." Leaving no room for debate, he quickly said, "Now—it would be impossible to effectively coordinate teamwork if we were to begin working together right away. The guildmaster and I have decided that these six should live with us for several days." With a deliberate glance in my direction, he added, "Though it will only be for a short time, I ask that everyone treat our guests with hospitality."

"I'm happy about the famous Blastoise coming to stay with us," Loudred muttered, actually managing to keep his voice down for once, "but the three bullies? No way. I didn't get dragged in to the mess of tracking them down for nothing."

"How can the guildmaster stand them?" Sunflora wondered, watching Wigglytuff as he gave the visitors an official welcome. He still looked a bit distraught over the previous events, but he seemed to be pretending it hadn't happened.

"They practically _ooze_ evil..." Diglett said with a shudder.

Bidoof glumly told us, "Golly, even though the great Blastoise is here, I'm starting to hope this expedition is over soon."

Chatot cleared his throat to reclaim our attention. Once he had a significant amount of it, he announced,"All right, everyone, let's get to work!"

"Hooray," a few of us muttered half-heartedly. Despite understanding where he and the guildmaster were coming from, I remained defiantly silent, and Rita was just as silent as she'd been throughout the entire meeting.

"What's this? Where's your usual spirit?" asked Chatot, casting a strangely anxious look over his shoulder at Wigglytuff.

"I sure hope you don't expect _me_ to be spirited," I grumbled under my breath.

Everything suddenly began shaking, and rather violently at that. Amongst the sounds of things crashing in other rooms, various Pokémon (such as Rita and myself) let out cries of alarm as they were caught off balance and fell. Even the guests were in similar states; Skuntank was gripping the floor in order to stay upright, trying and failing to look composed, while Koffing and Zubat hovered around him in a panic. Eevee and Vulpix were collapsed on the ground, eyes wide and looking startled. Blastoise, at least, seemed to be holding his own, and was trying to help his fallen students up. In the midst of this chaos we wondered aloud what was going on: was it an earthquake?—a legendary Pokémon?—something worse? Then Chatot let out a squawk. "No! The guildmaster...his rage is building!"

Despite how funny that statement would have sounded if I were not highly concerned for our safety (I mean, really, Chatot? "His rage is building?"), I glanced up from where I was sprawled on the floor and saw the guildmaster crouched down on the ground with his eyes clenched shut and his paws over his ears. Chatot, already in the air to escape the quake, flew over the guildmaster and circled around him anxiously. "Wait! Is _Wigglytuff_ doing this?" I asked in a shout to be heard by the other apprentices.

"Yes!" a chorus of voices answered me, and Sunflora, who was next to me, added, "Bad things happen when the guildmaster isn't happy, and he isn't happy when Pokémon around him say angry things!"

"Well why didn't any of you tell me to _shut up_?"

My annoyed exclamation was interrupted when Chatot loudly informed the whole of us, "If the guildmaster gets angry, it will be horrific! Come on, everyone, you must be cheerful, even if it hurts!" Gingerly, he flew back to his original spot, fluttering a bit over the ground, and repeated, "_All right_, everyone, let's get to work!"

"_HOORAY!_" all of us, including the guests, screamed out as loudly and with as much forced enthusiasm as possible, our voices shaking along with the floor.

At the sound of our cheering, Wigglytuff straightened up, and the room instantly ceased shaking. There was a long and awkward silence in which something in another room belatedly crashed and we stared at him and he stared at us, until he broke it by exclaiming as if nothing had happened, "Have a goodly-good day, everyone!" and disappeared into his chambers.

Chatot let out a huge sigh, covering his face with one wing. He stayed like that for a bit. In the meantime, about half of the apprentices had picked themselves up off the ground and had surrounded Blastoise and his students, and were shouting questions at them like there was no tomorrow. Blastoise seemed to be keeping his cool, though, and he was actually managing to answer some of the questions. Great, more reason for them to hero-worship him. Eevee and Vulpix, on the other hand, were much less indifferent and looked torn between being completely overwhelmed and ecstatic over the attention.

"Hey, Rita," I began, turning around the face her but still keeping an eye on the group, "who's this Blastoise guy? I know Chatot said something about him being some kind of teacher of exploration teams, but he didn't really go into detail about what he does, exactly."

If nothing else, I suppose Wigglytuff's building rage could be thanked for snapping Rita out of her funk. Although she seemed distracted, she was at least responsive. Casting a weirdly anxious glance at Team Skull, who were still lingering, and then at Blastoise's group, she whispered, "_Blastoise is...um...he's a really good explorer. They used to say he might even be as good as Wigglytuff...and Wigglytuff's supposed to be the very best."_

"Really? Wigglytuff is the best explorer out of them all? I didn't know that." This tidbit of knowledge had really caught my attention. "So we're being taught by the best of the best! Wow-ee."

"_Mm-hm. Wigglytuff is supposed to be a genius, though, so I don't know if it's true. Besides that, Blastoise doesn't explore much nowadays. Now he finds a couple of Pokémon who want to be explorers, too, and trains them himself. It's a bit like the guild, only Blastoise works really closely with his students while Wigglytuff and Chatot think it's better for us to work as in big and small groups to figure things out ourselves. Blastoise is supposed to be really good at teaching. His reputation is as good as our guild's; its really just the way they teach and the number of Pokemon they accept that's different; especially who they accept. Tons of Pokémon would give anything to be able to train with Blastoise, but he only takes the best of the best. You have to compete with each other just to be considered..."_

I stared at her in shock. "He actually makes them compete? Like, _compete_ compete, and then after all that he only takes one or two? Seriously? That sucks. Makes me appreciate Wigglytuff and the guild so much more. Even if we're weird, at least we aren't mean and selective." Then, with a sideways glance at the crowd assaulting Blastoise, I commented, "'S'probably why we don't have a million Pokémon flocking to us like Blastoise does, though. It's strange, but if something's hard to get, it tends to just make you want it more..."

As I spoke, I noticed Eevee and Vulpix struggle out of the crowd. After a brief discussion, they walked past us and started to head towards the dorms before stopping and looking quite confused. "Wonder what's up with them. Should be courteous hosts and ask them what they're looking for?"

Rita hesitated. I honestly wasn't sure why; she was always nervous around strangers, but she liked to help people out and usually didn't stop to think about whether or not she should when the situation wasn't potentially dangerous. "I...I g-g-guess ssso," she muttered. Maybe she was just shy right now. These two were complete strangers, after all.

"Okay...," I agreed, giving her a strange look. As usual, I led the way. "Are you two looking for something?" I called over to them as we approached.

Eevee's head whipped around. She looked extremely relieved by the potential help. "Um, yes!" she exclaimed, trotting over. Vulpix, too, was hurrying over from where she was looking around. "We were trying to figure out where the, um...'mess hall' was."

"That's to your right," I said, pointing to it with my tail. "The hallway to your left just leads to the dormitories."

"Oh...I see," Eevee whispered to herself. To Rita and me, she said, "Thank you very much. It seems Master Blastoise made a mistake and pointed us in the wrong direction."

Unexpectedly, Rita piped up. "M-...mmmaster...?" she asked with a really strange look on her face.

"Oh, um, yes; we call Blastoise that to be respectful," Eevee explained. She and Vulpix hadn't noticed Rita's weird expression, it seemed, though Vulpix shot a look at Rita as if Rita had said something offensive. "He's a very accomplished teacher, so it only seemed right. Master Blastoise taught us everything we know about exploring! We're incredibly lucky to have him as our instructor."

"He doesn't teach just _anyone_, y'know," Vulpix boasted, puffing out her chest. "Only the _best_ and most _promising_ Pokémon get to train with him! Can you say as much for your guild?" Without a second's pause, she plowed on, "Oh, wait—you guys just accept any old Pokémon who just so happens to wander in, don't you?" For a brief moment, an honest-to-goodness scowl crossed Rita's face, and I didn't blame her at all. It pissed me off, too. If she weren't a guest and it wouldn't have reflected badly upon the guild, I probably would have hit her for insulting the guild.

Eevee's eyes widened as the last words left her partner's mouth and she let out a little gasp. "Viette! There's no need to say things like that," Eevee scolded her, but I had a feeling that this admonition was just an attempt to be polite to her hosts rather than out of any real respect for the guild.

"Whatever. At least _we_ have the right idea," Vulpix muttered sulkily, and stalked away towards the mess hall.

"Viette...," Eevee began, looking distraught, but she seemed to deem her partner's attitude a lost cause. "I'm really sorry," she said to Rita and me. "My cousin has a little _too_ much self-esteem sometimes..."

I have to admit that the apology didn't really make me any more sympathetic towards her and Vulpix. "Whatever," I echoed Vulpix, but added, "It's fine," to be polite. Even if they both were completely transparent about their lack of appreciation for the guild, at least Eevee wasn't rude to us. And they were apparently cousins? How could Pokémon who were related be so different in personality?

Eevee picked up on the underlying tension and decided it was high time to bow out of the situation. "I ought to hurry after Viette; she tends to be a bit clumsy and it wouldn't do to have her break anything of yours. It was nice to meet both of you," she added with a polite bow of her head. "I'm looking forward to working with you and the rest of your guild on the expedition." I waved my tail in a farewell, while Rita let out a very quiet "bye." Eevee hurried off on her way.

As soon as she vanished into the mess hall, I stomped one paw on the ground angrily. "Jeez, talk about rude! That Vulpix has some nerve!" When there wasn't a response to my outburst, I turned around to see Rita staring distantly at nothing with a very peculiar look on her face. "Rita?" I waved my tail in front of her face.

The movement seemed to snap her out of it. "Sssssorry...I w-was just...d-d-distrrracted," she quickly apologized.

I frowned, definitely not convinced. "No, you've been acting really weird since Team Skull and those others came down here. Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

With a shake of her head, she insisted, "It...it's nnnnothing t-t-to...w-...worry about."

I waited for her to elaborate on what, exactly, wasn't worth worrying about, but it seemed that was all the explanation I was going to get right now. Addressing the most likely issue that could be bothering her, I told her, "Well, if it's about Team Skull being here, we won't let them trip us up. If we get shaken up over this, they're already winning, so we've just got to think positive. We're plenty tough enough to tackle whatever silly obstacles they throw at us!"

"Y-yeah. Of—of c-course." The agreement was no more than another attempt to wave off my concern, but she didn't sound doubtful, so I had to hope that this had helped in some way.

"How about we pick out some missions and then go and visit that egg before we leave?" I suggested, hoping to take her mind off of it. A genuine smile crossed her face as she nodded. Despite her initial reluctance, Rita had gotten quite attached to the little egg. "All right, then! Team Aster, let's go! 'Cause nothing's going to stop us!" With the customary high-five and cheer, we headed off to get our day's work started.

Until we were interrupted by someone calling me, that is. "Hey, Skitty!" Charmander shouted, waving at me a short distance away from the group surrounding Blastoise. Diglett was peeking out from the ground beside her. "Come over here! You, too, Chikorita; you might want to hear." Curious, we headed over as requested.

"You called?" I asked once we reached them. "Where's Pikachu?" I added to Charmander.

"Fawning over Blastoise's water cannons with Louder," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "Anyway, as Digger and I bonded over our shared dislike of those water cannons, we thought of something," Charmander began. "About how you said you don't remember your past, and that Rita found you knocked out on the beach."

I was suprised both that she and Diglett actually remembered and that they had apparently discussed it. "What about it?"

"We were thinking we could try to find your family!" Diglett exclaimed, looking excited. "It would be really easy, because my dad has access to all the papers!"

This really threw me off, unsurprisingly. "W-wait, what? You want to find my family?" _The family I don't have? This could be bad..._

"Yeah. The guild and the police collaborate to keep a record of who lives on this island and where," Charmander explained. "Humans like to keep Pokémon like us as pets, and since they live not too far off from this island, once in a while they'll show up here and take some of us back with them. So if a bunch of Pokémon suddenly go missing, we can look at the records—or papers, as a lot of us call them—and see if all the Pokémon who disappeared lived in one general area, because if they do we can usually link it to humans showing up and get everyone out of there. It's for safety and stuff."

"My dad helps out with getting information for the papers a lot," Diglett added, "so if I explain to him why we need them, he could get us the papers of all the Skitty families who live on the island. You're bound to be listed in one of them, Skitty!"

"But you don't need to do that. I don't need to find my family," I insisted.

Charmander and Diglett both looked taken aback. "Huh? Why?" Diglett exclaimed. "Why wouldn't you want to find out where your family is? Don't you miss them?"

"I can't miss a family I don't remember," I pointed out. "Besides, it's not like anyone's been looking for me, has it?"

"Well...no," Diglett admitted. "But that's what makes me worry. When someone goes missing, usually their family comes here to let us know. What if they think you died?"

"It doesn't matter," I said with a shrug. "I've been living here since before the last full moon, and even with stupid Team Skull ruining everything I'm happy here. I initially joined because Rita needed a partner and I needed somewhere to stay and figure things out, but I like being part of an exploration team and being here with everyone. I don't need much else." As I spoke, I realized that this wasn't just my excuse to get out of finding a family that isn't here; this was the truth. Rita was looking at me with shock. It surprised even me. "This place is my home now, and I have a whole lot of friends. As corny as this speech sounds, I'm not really sad anymore about not remembering my past and my family, because I don't really need it."

Diglett seemed willing to compromise after that, but Charmander fixed me with a wry look. "You really don't remember anything about them, do you?" She let out a sigh. "Look. Take it from someone whose parents are crap: you want a real family. And even if you don't remember them and therefore don't care, they'll remember you. And despite how weird it is that no one's come by here, I'm sure that at least _one_ of them is going to want to know where you are and that you're, you know, not dead or something. I'm going to scour those papers whether you agree to it or not, so just humor me and give the go ahead."

_Just when I thought I might get away with_ _it_, I thought with a sinking feeling in my wasn't much of a choice now. "Fine," I reluctantly agreed, "but please feel free to take your time with it."

"I'll have it figured out in a couple of days," Charmander said with a grin. "Let's go find your dad, Digger. Kacha and Louder can find us whenever they stop mooning over those stupid cannons. We have papers to investigate!"

"Right!" he cheered. "I'll go find him and tell him to meet us at the bulletin boards." Charmander nodded, and he tunneled underground. Charmander waved goodbye as she turned and headed up the ladder.

Rita turned to me with a mixture of surprise and hope. "D-d-do you...rrreally...w-want to...ssstay here? I...I thhhought...y-you...w-...wanted...t-t-to be...hhhuman again!"

I nodded with a grin. "Yup. It's weird, being a Pokémon when you know you weren't before, and sometimes I do wish I remembered what happened to me, but I love being a part of this guild. It's a lot of fun. Besides, we're friends. Why would I want to leave all my friends?" Then I thought about what Charmander and Diglett were doing, and my smile faded. "But I might not have a choice once they realize I'm not listed on those papers..."

It was official: today was just not our day.

* * *

**AN:/**

**Hello, hello, everyone! And how are you this fine November? Thanksgiving is next week! (Or it is in the USA, anyway.) A four-day weekend, all so you can stuff your face on that Thursday! Who wouldn't love a holiday like that?**

**So, busy chapter, huh? Lots of plot development, as promised, but with change! Team Skull and Team Aster are seriously at odds! Chatot wasn't an oblivious idiot like he was in the game! Charmander and Diglett are trying to be helpful but are really just screwing things up for Kai! _And_ there are new original characters! Meet Blastoise, Vulpix, and Eevee, the high and mighty teacher and his stuck-up students! I really need to add some boys to this story, but they're based off of my PMD:EoS team (minus Blastoise). I am greatly looking forward to their purpose. Also thought it was fun to play around with the idea of rivals/allies of the guild. Blastoise's methods are about as far from the guild as you can get.**

**Reviews!**

Cardcaptornicole: **That's what I was going for! Glad it came off well! It would be sad if I messed it up, considering I'm the oldest in my family and therefore should know this reaction like the back of my hand. Haha!**

Foxfawn: **Nope, not a Yanma, but good try! I actually thought about having the egg hatch into a Yanma, but I think Rita would be freaked out since it's a bug-type. XD I did not get to go out for Halloween. My sisters went out with their friends so I had no one to pretend to escort. I was very disappointed. But I did get to dress up as a witch for a Halloween party the second grade class I observe was having. =] Hope you had a good time!**

HikariNoTenshi-San: **Yeah, it's unfortunate that they always make dark- and poison-types evil. Ghost-types, too, sometimes. I don't much like poison, but I love dark and ghost. Haha, no need to worry, this egg-Pokémon is nothing like Kai. XD Wow, I would be scarred for life learning about the facts of life like that, too. I found out when my mom decided I was too old not to know (poor naïve me had never questioned it) and gave me a book. I was scarred for life just _reading_ that...I can't imagine watching the birthing process...**

Mystery-Bright: **Haha, I could always use inspiration for random facts. And happy belated birthday! I'll have to look at Kai and her calmness, but I'm glad you enjoyed Chatot explaining where eggs come from.**

adventurerXD: **Glad you like the story! I like putting my own spin on things, it makes it so much more fun to write than it would be if I just followed the game word-for-word.**

**So, that's all I really need to say. Hopefully I'll crank out the next chapter more quickly than this one, but I also have lesson plans to write for my second grade practicum and books to adapt for my special ed class and papers for English and...yeesh. Cannot. Wait. For. Winter. Break.**

**Random Fact #26:** Eevee's mother and Vulpix's father are brother and sister. The sister had an egg with a male Eevee evolution, and the brother had an egg with a Ninetales, which is how Eevee and Vulpix are related despite being different species. The two cousins have spent years preparing so that they could be good enough to be trained by Blastoise, who they admire greatly.


	27. Chapter 6, Part 3: Apples

The next day started off fairly normal, assuming you don't count the fact that no one was paying attention. Half the guild was staring at Blastoise as if he were some kind of god and the other half was glaring at Team Skull. Chatot actually declared us a lost cause and set us free before he normally would have. But as the rest of the guild scurried away at the conclusion of the morning meeting, Chatot called Rita and me aside.

"You two—your task today is to obtain stock to replenish the larder," he told us without preamble.

Evidently we were expected to understand this right off the bat, but unfortunately for him, I did not. "What is this stock and larder you speak of?"

"_Um...a larder is a place where they put food_," Rita whispered to me, "_and stock is the stuff you use to fill a larder,_ _so the stock would be food._"

Chatot nodded in agreement. "Precisely. Now—we inspected the larder this morning, and for some mysterious reason, the guild's stock has dropped sharply all of a sudden. There is no conclusive evidence as to why."

"It's not because of the extra Pokémon?" I asked, referring to Team Skull, Blastoise, Eevee, and Vulpix. I cast a sideways glance at the latter three, who at that moment heading up the ladder. Well, more accurately, Blastoise was heading up the ladder and his students were flouncing around behind him. Maybe I should start playing that superhero game where I jump down from the top floor again...

"No, that is unlikely to be the issue," Chatot said with a shake of his head, jerking me back to our much less fun discussion. "Even with six extra mouths to feed, we shouldn't be so low on food. Our entire stock has depleted significantly in what seems to be overnight. Furthermore, every last one of our perfect apples has been cleared out."

"_Perfect_ apples?" I asked, and would have raised my eyebrows if I knew how. Did Skitties even have eyebrows? "As opposed to what—bruised and wormy apples? Do you feed us those? I never really paid attention..." I trailed off, thinking of what I may have eaten.

Chatot looked a bit insulted. "All of our apples are in fine condition, thank you. No—perfect apples are a very big and very delicious variety of apples that come from a certain tree in Apple Woods; but more than that, they are the guildmaster's favorite food!" With a shudder, he added, "If there were no perfect apples at dinner tonight, the guildmaster would...well..."

He stayed silent for a very long time. "Go on—what'd happen if there weren't any perfect apples?" I prompted.

"The—the guildmaster would..." He trailed off. After a moment, he declared, "Yes, that's what would happen!" as if there hadn't been a pause at all. "That's why I'm begging you two to get some perfect apples."

"Let's just assume that it'd be something similar to the events of yesterday morning," I sighed, recalling the mysterious and rather destructive earthquake Wigglytuff had conjured. The kitchen area had been completely trashed, with fallen shelves, chairs, and dishes all over the place, the beds in the dorms had been so violently shaken that they just fell apart at the slightest touch, and one of the bulletin boards on the upper floor had fallen off the wall. "Sure, we'll get those perfect apples. Easy-peasy."

"Very good!" Chatot said, looking quite relieved. "You can find them deep in Apple Woods. You will find a large sack in the mess hall that you may take. I ought to warn you that there is a mystery dungeon overlaid on that exact spot, and you must go through it to obtain the perfect apples."

"Oh, dear. A mystery dungeon. How shocking. I never would have guessed," I said in a monotone voice.

Chatot rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure it must come as a great shock to you. In any case...grass-types and bug-types are the only Pokémon who live inside it, for the most part. Most of them are shooed off easily and shouldn't give you too much trouble," he assured Rita, who looked rather nervous at the mention of bug-types, which she was weak to. "I must warn you, however, that this mystery dungeon is growing larger, and its current boundaries are unknown. You must watch your step or you might wander inside when you least inspect it." He surveyed us with a serious look. "Now, this might seem like just a simple errand, but it's _very_ crucial, so _don't_ _fail_!"

"Like we're really going to fail a mission to get _apples_," I muttered under my breath; in a louder voice, I assured him, "We won't fail."

Chatot nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Very well, then. I expect the two of you back as soon as possible with those perfect apples," he added before flying up and out of the lower floor.

Rita and I exchanged a glance. "Well, guess that's that, then," I finally sighed. "Did he even mention if we were supposed to get food for _us_, too?"

"Nnnno...nnnot that...I-I'm a-aware of..."

"Well, we should probably get regular apples or something, too, so that, you know, we can eat too. Do you think we'd have room in that sack to gather other things, too? Maybe we should clean out our bag for normal food that we find..." Rita looked unhappy at the prospect of clearing out our bag, which was currently very full, but she nodded.

After grabbing the sack and almost literally shoving our things across the counter at Kangaskhan Storage, we hurried off on our way. "So how do we get to Apple Woods, anyway?" I asked as we headed east.

"I-it's t—t-t-towards th-...those mmmountains," Rita explained, pointing towards the horizon. We could see a ridge of hazy mounds far in the distance. "There's...a f-forest...i-in f-front of them...and Apple W-...Woods...issss...on the f-f-far...sssssside...c-c-clllosest...t-to the mmmountains."

"You sure know a lot about this island and where everything is," I commented, secretly a bit envious. "How do you remember all that?"

"I...I've...a-...always...llllived here," Rita said with a shrug. "It...it's...e-easy for mmme...t-to rrremember. Thhhat, and...mmmy mom...she g-gave me...a mmmap, once. W-we...would...llllook a-at it...t-t-together..." I expected her to stop there, but to my surprise, she elaborated, "She...u-used to...t-t-talk to mmme ab-bout...a-all the...d-d-different p-p-places shhhe'd b-b-been t-to. Her v-v-village...was...d-destroyed...i-in a...sssssinkhole...w-...when shhhe...was...a llllittle...o-older than...mmme, a-and...shhhe had t-to...mmmmove around a lot...at f-first...ssso she w-would...t-t-tell me...a-all these...sssstories...about thhhose p-places..."

"It sounds like you and your mom were pretty close," I observed. Not that I quite understood the nature of the relationship between children and their parents, seeing as I didn't recall mine, but compared to how Charmander talked about her "crap" parents, Rita clearly had a much better relationship with hers...or her mom, anyway.

Rita smiled wistfully. "Y-yeah. W-we...were." Then, a bit suddenly, she added, "Thhhat was...h-how she...mmmet my d-d-dad..."

I tilted my head to the side, trying to follow her train of thought. "Huh? From...moving around?" I clarified. "Map-reading?"

"Nnnno," Rita corrected me, shaking her head, "ffffrom the...ssssinkhole. Hhhhe was...o-one of the...P-Pokémon whhho...c-came t-t-to help. K-kind of a—a one P-Pokémon...exploration team. B-before there were...a-actual...exp-ploration t-teams."

Rita remained quiet after that, once again expressing her desire not to talk about her father. I began a discussion of how we should spend our funds in order to break the awkward silence. Luckily, it wasn't long before we reached the forest Rita had mentioned.

"Do you think we could just go in here?" I asked, eying the bright blue berries hanging tantalizingly on almost every tree branch. "Those oran berries look pretty good, and we haven't had any of those at the guild for a while..."

"I-I don't know...," Rita told me, looking at the forest with as much wariness as I had excitement. "I-if we...rrrun...i-into a...d-different...mmmystery d-d-dungeon...w-...we'd...b-be in t-trouble."

I had to admit defeat, however reluctantly. "Fine...but if we find any oran berries in Apple Woods, they're coming with us!"

Apple Woods was actually rather pleasant, very unlike the maze of trees and darkness I'd expected, and it did have oran berries in it, and quite a few others, as I noticed. "It's like berry heaven!" I exclaimed, scavenging for those that had fallen off their trees.

Rita glanced from the small pile of berries I'd gathered to our bag. "C-can we...f-fit...all th-that?"

"We can always take some out if we need to make room." So in the berries went.

Although we walked right into the dungeon without realizing it was there, it was easy to tell once we had, not only because of that weird walking-through-water feeling but because one moment the forest was strangely quiet and the next it was _swarming_ with bug-types. Rita let out a squeak of fear and abruptly stopped moving.

I let out a heavy sigh. "It's just some Caterpie, Butterfree, Budew, Paras...okay, so maybe that's a lot...but look, they're not even paying attention to us. We can just sneak past them."

"I hope so," Rita whispered, flinching as a particularly fat Caterpie plopped out of a tree a short distance away.

The dungeon itself was like a regular forest, just with weird lighting (the pattern of shadows did not at all match the pattern of trees) and rabid bugs. Though we'd managed to get away from these bugs, we weren't so lucky other times. We'd often get ambushed by bugs that dropped out of the trees right on top of us. Rita shrieked in terror each and every time. I swear I have never heard her make so much noise in a single day. But even with these surprise attacks, the enemies weren't difficult to chase off in the slightest. To a grass-type like Rita they may have been cause for concern, but these were little shrimpy bugs, so I don't know why she insisted they were something terrible. As these enemies were so easy to get rid of, we made it through without anything significant happening. We did pick up salvageable food, which there was a lot of, along the way. Our guild bag was now full to bursting with it. All that was left for us to do was get was the perfect apples themselves.

This, you see, was the only difficult part of our task. We'd emerged into a big clearing lit with early afternoon light, which we assumed was the center of the forest that Chatot mentioned, but what he neglected to tell us was that there had at least twenty, maybe thirty apple trees around it, and they all looked exactly alike. I looked around helplessly at the trees close to the way we'd come. Rita was investigating the ones closer to the front of the clearing. "This is going to be way more difficult than I thought..."

It took at least a few minutes of searching, but at last Rita exclaimed, "O-oh! K-Kai...I...I thhhink I...f-f-found it!"

I hurried over to where she was standing, close to the far edge of the clearing, and followed her gaze upwards. There, _just_ far back enough that your eyes weren't drawn to it, was a huge, _huge_ tree. On it, there were several big, delicious-looking apples. Once you spotted them, you could just tell that they were something special. "Oh, yeah. That's definitely it. There aren't very many of them, though, are there? Oh, well. We'll make do." Then I spotted a potential problem, and my stomach sank. "But how are we going to get them down? If the tree were smaller, or the branches closer together, I might have been able to climb up and get them, but this one is too big for me to climb up without claws..."

Rita squinted up at the high branches. "I c-can't...c-c-climb...a-at a-all...sssso...how?"

We were answered by a cackle and a shout of, "Easily done!"

Whipping around, we were greeted by the sight of...no one. "Who and where are you?" I demanded, looking in every direction. "It's impolite to speak to others from a place where they can't see you, y'know!"

A rustling in the perfect apple tree was the only warning we received before than the three jerks that made up Team Skull dropped down inches from our faces. "Whoops—did I almost crush you? My bad!" Skuntank chuckled as I jerked further out of the way.

"W-why are...y-you hhhere?" Rita squeaked.

"Yeah, haven't you three caused us enough problems already? Like invading our guild, for instance?"

"Aw, come on now. We just felt like having ourselves a picnic!" Skuntank told us, smirking.

Zubat chuckled. "A perfect apple picnic, that is!"

"We would have invited you, but since you took an eternity to actually get here, we just went ahead and helped ourselves," Koffing added with a huge belch.

"You _ate_ the perfect apples?" I shrieked at them. "Do you know what Chatot's going to do to us if we don't bring back enough of those? He'll kill us, and then Wigglytuff'll bring on the apocalypse! Then we'll all be dead, but hey, you got your darn picnic!"

"Oh, my, is that so?" Skuntank asked with a deliberately fake-looking expression of innocence.

I growled with frustration. "Come on, Rita; if they're just going to get in the way, let's just knock these creeps out and get the rest of those perfect apples before they demolish them, too." I braced myself, and Rita nervously did the same next to me, although the typical shaking had started.

Skuntank's eyes widened. "Knock us out? Well, that's rude of you. Why, I was even going to offer my help for your mission!"

" 'Offer your help,' huh?" I repeated warily, not relaxing a bit. "Define that for us."

"You were wondering how you could get those perfect apples, weren't you? Nothing could be easier. Watch." With all eyes on him, he walked around to the side of the tree and backed up until he had a decent stretch of ground in front of him. Then he charged and rammed into the trunk. The branches waved wildly from the impact, and a shower of leaves rained down on us. With each successive tackle, an apple or two fell from the branches, until there were quite a few on the ground ready for the taking. "See? What'd I tell you?" Skuntank puffed as he headed back over to our group. "Go on, now. Scoop up those perfect apples and scuttle back to the guild."

Rita and I exchanged a glance, and evidently were thinking the same thing: _there's no way this doesn't have a catch_. Neither of us moved a muscle.

"What's the matter? Aren't you going to pick them up?" Skuntank prompted us again. "And after I was so nice and helped you out..."

I snorted in disbelief and shook my head. "Somehow, I don't think that would be a very good idea. Strange, isn't it?"

"Y-you're just g-...going to p-pull a...d-d-d-dirty...t-trick, a-aren't...you?" Rita accused them, sounding sure of herself despite a wavering voice. "Y-you c-can't...f-fool mmme again!"

I added, "No one can change their colors in a day, and I vividly remember your little comments to Chatot yesterday morning."

All three members of Team Skull looked shocked. "Well, color me surprised. They didn't fall for it at all!" Zubat muttered.

"How boring is that?" Koffing sighed.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, shock of shocks—we were right. That's just _mind_-blowing."

"Well, it's a little disappointing you didn't fall for our act," Skuntank explained with another smirk, "but so what? What are you gonna do about it? Tattle on us to that Guildmaster of yours?"

"No need," I told him smugly. "You do realize you helped us for real, right? You got those perfect apples down! All we need to do is get you out of the way, and then we can just take those apples right on back to the guild."

Rita quickly added, "A-and...w-..._we'll_...g-get the...rrrreward!"

"Well, well, aren't we feeling confident today?" Skuntank sneered. "But look at the little wimp, sounding so sure of herself but _still_ quaking! You were shaking like a leaf the first time we met, too!"

Rita avoided looking at anyone as she said, "I...I d-d-did...b-back d-d-down...a-and I...I'm...sssscared nnnow...b-but"—she forced herself to look up—"I...I d-d-don't w-...want to...b-b-back d-down or...rrrun away...again!"

Skuntank shrugged. "So be it, then. In recognition of your courage," he said in a sarcastic, sing-song voice, "we'll be honored to take you on fair and square!"

He and Koffing moved towards us. It didn't escape my notice that Zubat flew away, closer to the perfect apple tree, so I followed his lead and backed away from Koffing and Skuntank; Rita followed mine and did the same. "Let's see if you can withstand this attack," Skuntank challenged us. "Koffing and I will use our noxious gas combo!"

Simultaneously, Koffing belched out a dark cloud of toxins and Skuntank sprayed fluid from his tail. The two combined produced a smell so horrible that there aren't words to describe it. It was so terrible that my eyes burned and I couldn't breathe. Rita and I both let out cries of pain once it hit us. I blindly struggled to find my way towards clean air, but the stuff was so strong that within thirty seconds my vision went dark and I collapsed onto the ground.

The next thing I knew, the sun was much closer to the horizon, and we were all alone. I groggily picked myself up off the ground. Rita was lying on the ground not far from me; the leaf on the top of her head was sort of withered-looking, and I stared at her, very confused. For a minute I wasn't sure where I was and why the both of us had been knocked out, as it seemed, but after a few seconds I remembered. "The perfect apples!" I gasped, and quickly looked around for them. Nothing. Not one of them was left. I whipped around towards the tree they came from and peered into its branches desperately. All those were gone, too...

My stomach dropped out, and I let out a frustrated sigh. "Rita," I said dully as I walked over to her and prodded her in the side. "Wake up. I have news."

She let out a groan, struggling into wakefulness. "Is...is it...g-good...?" she asked, slowly sitting up and shaking her head to clear it.

"Yeah, freaking fantastic," I grumbled. "We lost, and Team Skull got rid of all the perfect apples."

"W-what?" she demanded, and jumped to her feet before looking dazed and quickly sitting down again.

I winced, feeling a bit sorry for working her up that much. "Are you okay?"

Rita nodded. "Y-yes...just...thhheir attack...i-it's...lllike p-poison..."

That was definitely a problem, but at least one that could be fixed. "Do you think a pecha berry would help?" I asked, digging around in the bag for one. I pulled it out and handed it to her.

"Th-thanks...," she said, quickly eating it. Almost immediately her leaf seemed to look healthier. "I-...it worked," she observed, looking surprised.

"At least _something_ did. I guess there's nothing we can do now but go home...," I said, looking around once more, hoping that maybe I'd missed something. Nope...still no sign of the apples. There was no reason to stick around any longer. Time to face up to our failure.

"I...I guess...," Rita agreed. She sounded about as eager as I did. The two of us activated our badges and used them to teleport us back to the guild.

"What? You failed?" Chatot was understandably shocked when we gave him the news. We hadn't even gotten to explaining why before he started flipping out. He flew about the room in what might have been the equivalent of frantic pacing. "Are you serious? What am I to do? We lack the Guildmaster's favorite food! This is terrible! Seriously, what am I to do?"

"There wasn't anything we could do," I started to explain. He would have no choice but to do something about Team Skull if we told him how they'd sabotaged us! "Skuntank and his cronies—"

"Quiet! I don't want to hear any excuses!" Chatot interrupted, shooting us extremely disappointed looks.

Rita and I stared at him in shock. "But that's not fair!" I exclaimed.

Chatot snapped, "There are bigger things than fairness to be worried about right now! You leave me no choice. I can't allow a failure of this scale to go without repercussions. You'll go without dinner tonight!"

"What? You can't deprive us of food!" I protested. "That's just cruel! We're starving! That's...like...child abuse!"

"No, it's not. You failed to complete an important job. Your punishment could be much more severe than going without food for one night!"

"But—"

"I don't want to hear anything out of you!" Chatot interrupted again. "I have to report this to the Guildmaster now! When he hears it, he's sure to..." Looking panicked, he quickly put that task off, saying, "I will report this to the Guildmaster after dinner. You two will come with me when I do so. It's only fair that the two of you face the Guildmaster's wrath as well. That's an order!"

"But you won't even—"

"That's an _order_, Skitty!" he repeated. I sulkily shut my mouth. "Now, dinner will be starting momentarily. The Guildmaster will not be there, as he is still under the impression that you will be delivering perfect apples to him. The two of you will stand at the back of the mess hall and wait for me to finish. Then we will go to the Guildmaster's chambers, and you can explain to him why he won't be having his favorite food tonight."

"Yes, sir...," I said in a sarcastic and sing-songy voice. Rita did the same much more respectfully.

Dinner was an excruciatingly painful affair, but I can't imagine I have to go much into that. It's never fun standing around and watching other people eat when you can't. We earned ourselves a lot of pitying looks from the other apprentices. Team Skull was looking smug, from what we could see from behind them. After everyone had left, Chatot called us over, and then we were off to visit the Guildmaster.

"Hiya!" Wigglytuff exclaimed as we entered the room. "You brought me some perfect apples, didn't you? Thank you!" He leaned over to peek behind our backs, and looked quite confused to see that there was nothing there. "Huh? Where are they? Are you hiding them? Is this a game of treasure hunt?"

"Well, go on, explain," Chatot quickly prompted us, taking a step away from Wigglytuff.

"I...um..." I ducked my head ashamedly. "Well, uh...we sort of...failed the mission..."

"W-we're rrrreally...s-ssssorry!" Rita quickly interjected. He hadn't even said anything yet and she was already shaking and sounded close to tears.

Wigglytuff laughed and waved it off. "It's okay. I understand. It's all right—nobody wins all the time! Don't feel blue, don't feel blue!" he sang.

The answer was so unexpected that Rita was startled enough to stop shaking. "We're...off the hook?" I clarified, my eyes wide with shock.

"Sure, sure!" Wigglytuff assured us. Then he turned to Chatot. "So where are the other perfect apples?"

...Oh, darn it.

I laughed nervously, which directed Wigglytuff's attention to me. He was starting to look nervous. "Well...Guildmaster...um...since we failed, there...aren't any."

Wigglytuff's eyes grew huge, and his entire expression fell. "...Oh."

"And...we won't be able to get any until tomorrow, so...for dinner, you'd have to eat...something else..." I cringed away, anticipating the worst.

Chatot started laughing hysterically, as in the full-blown panic kind of hysterical. I have to say it did not help Rita's and my nerves. Eventually, it died away, and after some moments of silence, he hesitantly asked, "G-guildmaster...?"

Wigglytuff let out a few sniffles. "There's no p-perfect apples?" he sobbed, looking completely devastated. The room started shaking, and he let out a wail that was slowly growing in volume.

"W-what do we do?" I panicked, looking around as if the room itself would somehow magically provide me with some sort of clue. My gaze catching Chatot's, I asked desperately, "Chatot! What do we do?"

"Cover your ears!" Chatot instructed us, his wings already over...well, whatever birds use to hear with...They don't have ears, exactly, do they?

"Why?" I shouted over the noise of the shaking and Wigglytuff's crying.

"Don't argue; just do it now! Quickly!"

Just as we crouched down and covered them as best as four-legged creatures could, Wigglytuff's cries suddenly tripled in volume (now half crying and half screaming). Even with our ears covered the sound was cringe-worthy. The shaking intensified, the air spontaneously combusted in various places around the room, and to top it all off an ear-shattering whine played in the background. "We'resorrywe'resorrywe'resorrywe'resorry!" Rita and I both chanted amongst all the noise.

The door creaked open, and someone screamed over the commotion, "Sorry to disturb you! We're here to deliver a perfect apple!"

Wigglytuff's tantrum abruptly came to a halt. "H-huh...?" he sniffled. Rita and I cautiously uncovered our ears and turned to see who had just saved us.

It was Team Skull, of course. We didn't get the chance to react before Zubat and Koffing unceremoniously pushed us apart and out of the way. Skuntank barged through the new opening. "Hey!" I yelped.

"Here you go. A genuine perfect apple," he said as he placed it in front of Wigglytuff. "Please accept it as a token of our friendship." I glared at his back. Jerks! Not only did Team Skull get the satisfaction of messing up our mission and getting us in trouble, but now they were rubbing it in our faces!

Wigglytuff gasped excitedly, his distress far behind him now. "Oh, wow! You went and got it just for me? Yay! Thank you! Friends, friends!" he cheered, hugging the apple close.

"Thank you so very, very kindly!" Chatot told Skuntank, Zubat, and Koffing. "Thanks to you, we've all been spared a catastrophe!" He paused, looking at Rita and me expectantly. I glared mutinously at Team Skull, while Rita was avoiding everyone's gaze. "Hey! You two! Quit dozing and show your respect and appreciation!"

Skuntank laughed heartily. "No, no, it's quite all right. After all, your guild has been very generous and hospitable to us. It's only right that we try to return that favor in our own way."

"Ah! I see that you're the most admirable of Pokémon," Chatot said, looking pleased. "To be able to embark on an expedition with someone so noble as you...it will be truly inspiring!"

"No, no; you will be the ones who inspire _us_," Skuntank insisted. "Truly, we look forward to our expedition."

Still pretty annoyed and also very hungry, I was in just enough of a bad mood to mock their conversation without caring that the Guildmaster and Chatot were right there. "Oh, Rita, let us declare just how much each of us are inspired by the other! Your leaf, it is so green! It so inspires me to grow as a Pokémon!"

"That's quite enough out of you," Chatot snapped. I mutinously kicked at the ground.

"Well, it's getting late now, so we'll be off to bed," Skuntank announced, smirking at us. Zubat yawned pointedly. "Until tomorrow then."

"Thank you! Good night! Friends!" Wigglytuff shouted out disconnected phrases as he played with his perfect apple.

"You two are to go straight to your room," Chatot instructed us. "No dilly-dallying. I hope you'll think long and hard about your behavior today."

"I hate them!" I blurted out as soon as we entered our room. I kicked the side of my bed angrily, then paced around the room. "It's not fair! They've messed with us _all day_ today! Now Chatot is mad at us, and since Team Skull's been _so_ wonderful and Chatot's _so_ inspired by them he's never going to believe us if we tell him how awful they're being to us! And now we have to go all night without eating! It's not fair! Right? Right?" I asked, whirling around to look at Rita.

"I—I—" Rita stammered, looking devastated. She was already upset, and my tantrum was just making it worse.

I sighed, frustrated. "Let's just go to bed. Night, Rita." I curled up in my newly lopsided bed, ignoring the sounds my hungry stomach was making.

I don't think either of us got much sleep that night.

* * *

**AN:/**

**Agh, you have no idea how bad I feel for delaying this chapter. I was really pushing to get it out on Thanksgiving, and then the day before I got involved in a four-car accident. Everybody was fine, but my car was not. I didn't have anything to do with it, but my insurance company and those of the other drivers are keeping me busy playing phone tag and all kinds of other things, and I still don't even have my own car back yet. So whatever you do, don't _ever_ get in a big accident. You would not _believe_ how ridiculous getting the case wrapped up is.**

**Reviews!**

Foxfawn**: We'll see about beating up Team Skull in the future. And Vulpix actually has a LOT of confidence, so you can feel free to be annoyed by her. I am, and I created her!**

Cardcaptornicole**: Thank you!**

HikariNoTenshi-San**: I might go into it later in the story, so I won't say much here, but yeah, Charmander's parents weren't the greatest. No, Blastoise hasn't taught them humility, mainly because he doesn't have any either. Can't pass on what you don't have!**

Mystery Bright**: I like Eevees and Vulpix too, though if you go by how I characterized these two you wouldn't think so, haha! Charmander would actually see something pretty interesting if she found Rita's family, but we'll get there sooner than you think. ;)**

TwewyReaperGirl**: That's okay, I totally understand. School keeps me pretty busy, too. I'm doing pretty good, thanks, aside from that car accident. How about you, fellow Skitty?**

adventurerXD**: Yay! Our Sky teams match! Clearly we are both awesome. Oh, I forgot about that PMD:Red/Blue Blastoise. The team with Alakazam is Team A.C.T., but Blastoise was on a different one. =] Haha, with Pikachu fawning over Blastoise's cannons, it was more like getting excited over how cool they were and how awesome it would be to shoot things with them. That was just Charmander stretching the truth.**

**I have finals until the 20th, so just in case I don't get the next chapter out beforehand, Happy Holidays!**

**Random Fact #27:** Rita and her mom were very close until the latter vanished. They did practically everything together. Rita was completely devastated when her mom vanished, which isn't surprising considering her daddy abandonment issues.


	28. Chapter 6, Part 4: Belief

It was a special day. Yes, indeed—a very special and significant day. You see, today is the first day that I was not awoken by Loudred shouting at a normally impossible volume. Instead, I was awoken (multiple times, no less) by my dear friend, my stomach, which insisted on reminding me that I was hungry every few minutes.

"Shut _up_," I griped when the infernal thing grumbled for the umpteenth time. I scrunched my eyes shut and tried to ignore it, but apparently my stomach didn't like that because it growled even louder. "Fine!" I snapped, dragging myself into a sitting position. "I give up. You've woken me up for good this time. Are you happy? I still can't feed you, you know!"

"K-Kai…w-…what are…you d-d-doing?"

I looked over my shoulder to see Rita watching me, half-dazed. Seemed neither of us had gotten much sleep. "I am yelling at my stomach. It keeps complaining that I'm not feeding it. Well, too bad for you, stomach!" I declared, glaring down at my belly. "You're just gonna have to suck it up and wait!"

Looking as if she couldn't care less if an explosion went off right under her nose, Rita just yawned, stretched, and looked up at the window. It was still dark, but something about the hue of the sky implied it was early morning and it would soon be time for Loudred to come storming in and shout at us. Daylight was coming later than usual now that the season was changing, but the early morning wake-up calls kept coming right on schedule.

"I wonder if Chatot'd still let us snack on the leftovers from last night…," I thought aloud as my stomach growled again. The leftovers were normally set out in the morning for anyone and everyone to pick at, but knowing Chatot "no dinner" might very well mean "no food for you until tomorrow's dinner." By that time we'd have been going on more than thirty hours without a proper meal, not counting whatever we could spare from our supplies.

"I d-don't…knnnow…," Rita muttered, with the air of someone who had convinced herself of the worst possible outcome and was mentally preparing for it.

A few minutes passed in miserable silence, as if food was just going to magically appear in front of us if we sulked long enough. Finally, I was at the end of my rope. "That's it! I can't take it anymore!" I whined. "I'm tired, I'm really hungry, and I don't have any patience anymore. I'm going to get food whether Chatot likes it or not!"

"Okay," Rita sighed. Evidently she was just in too much of a bad mood to care what either of us did anymore, and I was in too much of a bad mood to care that this was odd behavior. She dragged herself to her feet and slowly shuffled out the door. It wasn't much better than my jerky, angry movements as I led the way out the door and towards the dining hall.

Halfway there, we were startled by a voice suddenly calling out, "And where are you two off to so early this morning?"

Rita and I exchanged mystified glances before looking around the room in search of the mysterious voice. Was it Wigglytuff? A ghost? A legendary Pokémon, descending amongst us mortals? No, it was only Chatot, peering at us through one eye where he was perched up on the beams that kept the ceiling from caving in.

"We're hungry," I complained, shooting him a miserable look. Of course he would be up on the ceiling, watching our every move. Chatot always ruined everything; why would this be an exception?

To my surprise, Chatot rolled his eyes in the direction of the mess hall. He sounded rather rueful as he said, "Well, you won't find a thing in there that's not already rationed out for future meals. All of our guests have rather large appetites…."

I pleaded desperately, "Not even any leftovers?"

"None that we can spare," he said, and this time there was definitely a note of displeasure there. "You'll have to make do with whatever food have amongst your supplies."

"Great," I muttered.

"In the meantime," Chatot continued, glancing at one of the windows, "seeing as Loudred should be waking the others momentarily, you may as well wait here for the morning assembly."

True enough, Loudred was up and about within a minute or so, screaming his usual fare, and another five before everyone (including the guests, who liked to join in even though they weren't obligated to) had gathered in the main room. Chatot and Wigglytuff went over what everyone should do today (lots of us were set for food-gathering duty, but, shock of shocks, Rita and I weren't among them), a reminder about working cooperatively with our guests for another such-and-such amount of time, the morning cheers, yada, yada, yada.

"One last item," Chatot said over the first hints of dispersion. Everyone shifted back into place. "Tomorrow, or the day after…or perhaps in several days time," he added thoughtfully, "we plan to announce the members of the expedition party."

"Hooray!" Wigglytuff burst out from the front of the room, throwing his arms up in the air.

There was a flurry of movement, and excited remarks flew in every direction. I looked over my shoulder at Rita and whispered, "Do you think we're even an option now, after what happened?"

Rita cast a bleak glance in Team Skull's direction and shrugged. "_I hope so…_," she whispered.

"Settle down, settle down! Remember, this is your last chance to make an impression," Chatot told us once we had sufficiently calmed down. "Work hard and impress us if you want to be chosen."

"Yes!" the rest of the guild called out, and scurried off as a giant mass towards the ladders. Blastoise was looking on with a vaguely amused expression, his students bouncing around with excitement, while Team Skull grinned pointedly at us.

"Skitty. Chikorita. Come here, please."

Chatot's summons distracted me from sending a look back at them. Rita and I turned away and walked up to Chatot just as Wigglytuff disappeared back into his chambers. "Yeah?"

"There's something I need to explain to you," he told us.

"O-…okay…," I slowly replied, feeling nervous in the face of whatever he was about to say. A glance at Rita told me she was equally, if not more, concerned.

He fixed us with a serious look. "The two of you should give up on being chosen as expedition members."

I felt my stomach drop. It was a harsh revelation, even if Rita and I had been half expecting it.

"As you know, it's difficult to tell what the Guildmaster is thinking with his constant happy demeanor, but there's no doubt that he's…highly disappointed with what happened yesterday. You have worked hard up until now, but your failure caused him a lot of distress and inconvenienced the other apprentices who had to redo your mission today. I have very little doubt that you will be passed over when he makes his decision…so when the time comes for him to announce his decision, don't get your hopes up." He turned away, shaking out his wings. "That's all." And off he flew to the upper floor.

After a long silence, I suggested, "Should…should we prove him wrong?" Rita sighed and said nothing, a hopeless look on her face. I glumly turned away. Though she hadn't meant to point it out through her silence, that was the problem; how were we supposed to get motivated after that news?

"Hey, you two!"

I turned my head at the sound of the rather loud whisper. "What do you want?"

"Shhh! Golly, not so loud!" the voice pleaded. I looked over towards the mess hall, where Bidoof, Sunflora, and Chimecho were standing only slightly hidden by a corner. Way to be sneaky, guys. "Come this way," Bidoof insisted, tilting his head towards the mess hall.

I looked at Rita for confirmation and she just shrugged. "Fine, then." We slowly hauled ourselves towards the dining hall; halfway there Sunflora got impatient and pushed us from behind to make us move faster.

"You really don't need to push," I commented irritably.

"I do," she replied, still shoving us onwards, "or else Chatot's going to spot us and we'll be in big trouble."

As Rita and I were unceremoniously shoved down onto a bench, I asked, "Why would you be in trouble?"

"Shh!" Sunflora hissed at us and Chimecho squeezed herself behind a cabinet and emerged levitating two small containers in front of her.

"Here you go!" Chimecho trilled, using her telekinesis to place a container in front of each of us. Berries and some bits of apple filled them almost to the top; they looked like they'd been sitting out for a while, but entirely edible. "You both must be very hungry," she said with a grin.

My mouth was already watering and I wanted nothing more than to dive right in, but I forced myself to ask, "Can we really have this? Chatot told us there wasn't any food to spare!"

"There isn't," Chimecho said; "not from what we're serving for dinner today, at least."

"Team Skull was looking so smug we knew they must have had something to do with that mission you failed and all that commotion in the Guildmaster's chambers last night!" Sunflora explained. "Oh my gosh—we couldn't just sit around and watch you be punished for something they caused!"

Bidoof smiled shyly. "We couldn't risk getting caught by Chatot, though, so we all set aside bits of our dinners to give to you this morning after he left!"

Rita looked as if she were about to cry, she was so touched. "Th-thank you!" she stammered.

"You guys are amazing," I said, shoveling mushy berries into my mouth.

"Of course we are!" Sunflora preened.

Chimecho watched me with a strange expression. "You eat very oddly…."

"Do I?" I asked, berry juice staining my mouth and paws.

"I don't think Skitties usually eat using their paws," she explained in lieu of a confirmation.

With a shrug, I told her, "I do," and returned to inhaling the rest of my meal. "Man, this is like heaven. I'm feeling awesome already!"

"Well, I guess Kai likes hers….How is yours, Rita?" Bidoof asked Rita.

Rita looked up from the berry she was much more daintily eating. She replied with a surprised smile, "It's…it's g-g-good. Thhhhank you."

Chimecho smiled back. "You're welcome!"

Sunflora nodded, adding, "No one can work hard on an empty stomach. We can all use help when we're down."

"And every one of us needs to be able to work hard in order to be picked for the expedition!" Bidoof cheered.

Rita froze, her mood visibly plummeting at the reminder. I slowly retracted my paw from the last dregs of berry juice that I was dipping my paws into and licking off. "I wish we could agree to work at one hundred and ten percent, but…before you all called us over, when Chatot was talking to us…he said we're probably not going to be chosen because of our failure yesterday. He said the Guildmaster is probably going to be too mad at us." I sighed. "There's no point in working hard anymore. We're not going to get to go, so why bother?"

"How could you say that?" I glanced at Bidoof in surprise. "That's no reason to give up!" he insisted, a determined look on his face. "No sirree! There's no telling what could happen, even now!"

"That's right! Chatot's just being a pessimist, or a realist, or whatever it is he likes to call himself. The members haven't been picked yet, whatever he may say!" Sunflora exclaimed.

"B-but…even if…if w-we were…ch-chosen to…g-g-go…w-…wouldn't that mmmean…others c-couldn't?" Rita asked anxiously. "I…I d-d-don't…w-want to…t-t-take it aw-w-way from…others w-who are…b-better and…d-d-deserve it mmmore."

Sunflora frowned. "I can't say I would be happy being left behind, but…well…." Evidently not sure of how to word her thoughts, she looked to Chimecho for help.

Chimecho's eyes lit up in understanding. "Oh! I think I know where you were going with that." To us, she said, "If someone is chosen, someone else can't go. That's just the way it works!"

"Oh my gosh, yes, that's exactly it!" Sunflora exclaimed. "That's the way it works; so if you don't get picked for the expedition, you should cheer for those who did!"

"Yup yup! And everyone wants to go on the expedition with you two," Bidoof added. "Golly, if we're talking about talent, I don't know who deserves to go more than you two do. Hardly any of us lasted that long before failing a mission."

"I failed on my very first mission," Sunflora reflected. "I was really clumsy back then. Oh my gosh, I messed up _so_ badly that day! I'm sure Chatot was really regretting our policy of accepting everyone."

"You two are really good at what you do!" Chimecho encouraged us. "To you it might look hopeless, but this is nothing you can't fix with some extra effort! You shouldn't give up so easily!"

I blinked in disbelief. "Well…I guess we can't stop now. Shall we keep trying, Rita?" I asked her.

Rita looked totally overwhelmed by their belief in us, but it seemed to have done her some good. She was looking hopeful again. "Y-yes….I…I w-won't…g-give up y-yet!" she vowed.

Chimecho laughed. "Yeah; that's the spirit!"

"Let's promise to try hard so we all can go!" Sunflora decided. "And if we break our promise and stop trying, well, we'll…we'll…we'll have to do something to knock the sense back into each other!"

"That's a good idea! I promise!" Chimecho instantly agreed.

"Me, too!" Bidoof chimed in.

"Me three!" I cheered. "I'll work so hard my tail'll fall off!"

Rita smiled. "I…I will, t-t-t-too."

"It's settled, then!" Sunflora announced. "We'll all work really hard, and if only some of us get picked, we'll just have to cheer them on!"

"Deal." I grinned at Rita. "Starting now, no more negativity! It's not over yet, so let's think positive until the end!"

Rita smiled back. "Of c-course."

* * *

**AN:/**

**So yeah...hi, everybody. Long time no update, huh? Long story short, I found out I had a tumor (think of the pink ribbon symbol) and I had to get it removed and stuff. It wasn't cancer (thank goodness, since that could have been VERY bad), but I didn't know for sure until about three weeks ago and after all that I was really stressed and in desperate need of a nice long break. But I guess I feel cool now that I can tell people, "Hey, I'm not even twenty yet and I've had a tumor; ain't that awesome?" Always a better way of thinking than "now I'm at more risk of cancer, yay."**

**This is a short chapter, but I thought you needed something to tide you over and let you know I'm not dead or anything.**

**The part where Croagunk's Swap Shop is introduced comes right after this, FYI, but I don't think I'll be bringing it up in this story since I know I won't do anything with it. Hope that doesn't bother anyone.**

**In other news, this story is about two years old now (from the time I started writing it-not necessarily when I first posted it).**

**I'll do my best to get back into the swing of things soon. Though I have to warn you, my sister is not in a very good place now and we're also trying to decide whether or not she needs to be tested for Asperger's, so this story is going to come second to that. I'll try not to make the wait as long as this last one, though.**

**Reviews!**

Cardcaptornicole**: Thanks!**

TwewyReaperGirl**: Haha, nice game time. I'm pretty good, considering. Thank you for asking!**

Mystery-Bright**: Exactly! I've always thought it was unfair of people to hate Chatot for that. Glad you liked that Kai did the explaining. Always thought it was weird that Chatot did in the game.**

TobyTse99**: Glad you've caught up, and thanks for all the comments.**

Team Dasher**: Welcome back, and happy very belated birthday!**

saturday101**: Thank you for the punny comment. XD**

**Random Fact #28:** If Kai had a theme song, it would be the Nyan Cat/Poptart Cat's song. Annoying, obnoxious, gets stuck in your head, and humanly impossible to sing, but weirdly catchy. Plus it's a cat with the body of a poptart that leaves rainbows behind as it runs across the sky. Kai would think it was amazing to share a theme song with a poptart cat running in the sky expelling rainbows.


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